Fourteen years after our favorite family roasted lamb on a spit in the front yard to celebrate Toula and Ian’s Big Fat Greek Wedding, they’re shouting opa! once more. The long-awaited sequel sees Toula in a midlife rut. Her travel agency failed, her marriage is struggling and her teenage daughter, Paris, dreams of going to college in New York, prompting the classic Greek response: Why do you want to leave me? Amidst Toula’s troubles, her father, Gus, discovers that the priest never signed his marriage certificate, setting the family up for another wedding. The sequel employs the same loving, familial humor that made the original so popular. While it could never live up to the first film’s magic, the nostalgia factor alone makes it a family reunion you don’t want to miss. It reminisces with favorite jokes: the healing power of Windex, the decorative nature of bundt cakes, and the importance of finding a nice Greek boy, but it also tackles new themes of motherhood and marriage. Perhaps the sequel’s greatest feat is reuniting the entire original cast. My personal favorite, Andrea Martin, makes a hysterical comeback as Aunt Voula, still offering up grotesque stories about her ailments and tons of unsolicited advice.
Should You See It? Yes! It’s a family reunion you actually want to attend.
Viewed at AMC Chesterfield 14
