14 years after the original film, the Portakalos crew are back at it again with their obsession of all things Greek and marriage. Figurehead Toula Portakalos Miller (Nia Vardalos) must contend with a faltering love life with her husband (John Corbett), her angst-ridden daughter's drive to attend college far away from the close-knit clan, and the revelation that her father and mother's marriage wasn't officially performed, all at the same time. I still stand behind the first entry but simply put MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 is beyond being too little, too late, especially after the flop TV series that only tube fanatics can remember. It's basically a chain restaurant's dish of soup: it provides you with some warmth and a minor tasty response but it rapidly goes cold and you wished you ordered something more healthy or vibrant. Vardalos' script certainly will not give her another Oscar nomination, as it is pure sitcomy in all of its plot lines and gags and you can practically feel the dustiness whenever she includes something sprung from 2013 or earlier comes up (FaceTime, John Legend's "All of Me", Zumba). Worst, I don't know if it was supposed to be a running joke or not, but nearly everybody asks Toula to "do something" whenever a new ordeal pops up, only for her to remain silent while the more smarter and interesting characters take charge. Toula is so defanged and brain-dead this time around that you just wish Vardalos was excised from the proceedings entirely, that way we can have more dreaminess from John Corbett, Andrea Martin with her funny dirty talk, or Elena Kampouris making a name of herself as a young woman besieged by her own professional and personal lusts and the family that keeps intruding in. It drove me crazy at times and practically hate the entire picture but MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 is a barely-passing throwaway that you can have a sprinkling of enjoyment with. A natural pick for those who need a tepid extension to hanging out with old friends or to watch it on television on a lazy afternoon.
FINAL REVIEW: 2 / 5
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