Digital Review: MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3

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Nov 02, 2023 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The Portokalos family is back for another fun-filled adventure filled with food, family, dancing, and Greek Voodoo, but this time they’re taking their antics abroad, to their homeland of Greece. The first My Big Fat Greek Wedding film found Toula (Nia Vardalos) falling in love with, and getting married to non-Greek Ian (John Corbett). In the second film, Toula’s parents, Kostas (Michael Constantine) and Maria (Lainie Kazan), discovered that they were never really married, and so they became the titular union of the second movie. As the title hints, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 will bring a third wedding for the family, but who’s getting hitched this time, and what hurdles are they going to face?! As the third installment of the franchise opens, family patriarch Kostas has passed away, and Toula’s mother is starting to experience some dementia and memory loss. Before her father died, Toula had made a promise to him that she would go to Greece to attend the reunion of his village, and give his journal to his three childhood best friends. Kostas had never made the trip back to Greece in the half a century since he emigrated, so this is a way for Toula to honor him, and all the sacrifices he made for his family.

Joining Toula on this trip are her husband Ian and their daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris), her brother Nick (Louis Mandylor), and aunts Voula (Andrea Martin) and Frieda (Maria Vacratsis). Aunt Voula—who can’t help meddling in the rest of the family’s relationships—has also brought along an assistant, who just happens to be Paris’ recent ex Aristotle (Elias Kacavas), hoping that the two will rekindle their romance. Paris isn’t thrilled by the situation, but she’s also a bit preoccupied with another issue that she’s keeping a secret, especially from her parents.

When the group arrives at the airport in Greece, they are welcomed by Victory (Melina Kotselou), the young, energetic self-voted mayor and jack-of-all-trades of the village. The Portokalos family learns that it was Victory who had sent the invitation for the reunion, and that so far they are the only attendees. The once beautiful fountains that watered the Vrisi olive groves have dried up, and all but six of the people who had lived in the village have moved away. But Victory has no doubts that everyone will come back for the reunion, even though no one has actually RSVP’d. Toula and her family meet the ornery Alexandra (Anthi Andreopoulou), who informs Toula that she knew her father and that was just a chin’s hair away from being her mother. She lives in the deserted town with her assistant, Syrian refugee Qamar (Stephanie Nur), her son Peter (Alexis Georgoulis), and grandson Christos (Giannis Vasilottos).

As the family takes in the sights, Toula worries about not being able to fulfill the promise she made to her father if his childhood friends don’t show up for the reunion, so she enlists the help of a remote Nikki (Gia Carides) and Angelo (Joey Fatone) to help locate her father’s friends. Meanwhile, Nick is on his own secret mission which involves locating a specific tree in town; Paris continues to debate what to do about her mystery situation; and Ian discovers the generosity and kindness of the locals and Greek culture.

While I generally enjoyed the first two My Big Fat Greek Wedding films, it has never really been a franchise I revisited that often. However, I really enjoyed this third installment, more than the first two. The beautiful Greek setting gives it a fresh new feel, and introduces some fun new characters and relationships. At the same time, the film also makes lots of callbacks to the familiar, recurring jokes from the earlier movies, such as how Kostas would find a way to prove every word originated from the Greeks, or how seemingly everything can be considered bad luck, or the magic of Greek Voodoo. Each of the the family members has a chance to shine comedically, but Aunt Voula is probably my favorite. Andrea Martin is back in top form, with Voula saying whatever is on her mind, crossing every boundary. While you’re watching this film, you just want to be a part of this family. The Portokalos’ are a hilarious bunch. They know they can always rely on each other in a crunch, and they may butt into one another’s personal lives, but it’s always with good intentions and out of love.

One of the themes of this third film is secrets—most of the characters have come to Greece harboring some sort of secret or agenda, and it’s not until they are able to let go of these that they are able to really be happy and free. Victory is constantly telling the others that life is too short for secrets, and that proves to be true. Toula discovers that even her own father had secrets—that she has family in this village that even her mother doesn’t know about. And if there’s something the Portokalos’ can’t get enough of, it’s family!

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a fun and uplifting film, that will have the audience constantly smiling, and even laughing out loud. Combining the humor and heart of the first two films with an beautiful new location makes for a thoroughly entertaining next installment of this franchise. You’ll be yelling Opa! and celebrating along with these characters.

Universal has released My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital. I was sent an HD Digital copy of the film for review, however, the film is also available digitally in 4K. The HD picture features a solid presentation, with a stunning picture throughout. The Greek setting looks so beautiful, especially under the bright sunlight. Even during some of the darker, nighttime sequences, the level of detail remains strong. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, and really showcases the film’s delightful soundtrack, which features various Greek music. The track also provides a somewhat immersive feeling during the party scenes. The Digital release offers the same bonus material as the physical release, which consists of a gag reel, four deleted/extended scenes, about 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and an audio commentary by writer/director/star Nia Vardalos. Not all of the bonus material is available from every digital provider (though the release is Movies Anywhere, so you get them all). For example, the audio commentary is available on the Apple TV app, but not on the Vudu or Movies Anywhere apps.

What’s Included:

We received the HD Digital release for review. Specs and availability of bonus features varies by provider.

Film: (1:32:17)

1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Extras:
Content may vary by retailer.

Gag Reel (7:44)
Fun with the cast as the forget their lines, improv, make each other laugh, and have fun on set.
Deleted and Extended Scenes (2:13)
Three scenes play back to back—At the airport, Toula goes over the plans with everyone to take care of things while she’s gone; Aunt Voula urges the flight attendant to have her moles taken care of; and Nick asks Victory for some advice.
On Set With Nia Vardalos (3:23)
The cast and crew talk about working with the talented Nia Vardalos, while the star talks about serving triple duty writing, directing and acting for this third movie. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producer Rita Wilson, writer/director Nia Vardalos (“Toula”), director of photography Barry Peterson, production designer Grant Armstrong, line producer (Greece) Kostas Raftopoulos, head of production Kostas Kefalas, and stars Louis Mandylor (“Nick”), Joey Fatone (“Angelo”), Gia Carides (“Nikki”), Andrea Martin (“Aunt Voula”), Elena Kampouris (“Paris”), Elias Kacavas (“Aristotle”) & John Corbett (“Ian”), Maria Vacratsis (“Aunt Frieda”).
Opa! The Making of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (7:01)
The cast and crew talk about reuniting again for a third film, how the original story idea changed when Michael Constantine passed away, the new characters, filming on location in Greece, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with writer/director Nia Vardalos, producer Rita Wilson, director of photography Barry Peterson, and stars John Corbett, Joey Fatone, Gia Carides, Elena Kampouris, Elias Kacavas, Andrea Martin, Louis Mandylorm, Maria Vacratsis, Melina Kotselou (“Victory”), Stephanie Nur (“Qamar”) & Alexis Georgoulis (“Peter”).
Wedding Drum Song – Extended Take (1:02)
Extended cut of the background wedding guests dancing to the drum music.
Feature Commentary (1:32:17)
Writer/Director/Star Nia Vardalos provides a fun and informative commentary throughout the film. Available via the Apple TV app.
Theatrical Trailer (2:25)

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

I quite enjoyed this third installment of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise. The film does a nice job of bringing back the recurring jokes, characters and relationships that fans loved from the first two films, while also taking the story to a beautiful new foreign location, and introducing some fun new characters. The film gives most of the main characters their own story arcs or issues to overcome, while also having this wild extended group come together to celebrate a newly-extended family. Universal’s digital release looks and sounds great—as Victory would say, “Supermodels. Fantastic. Number One.”—and includes some entertaining bonus material. This is a must own for fans of the franchise, and certainly worth a look for those searching for a fun new comedy. For those on the fence, the film will be streaming on Peacock as of Friday, November 4.