It has been 14 years since we first met the Windex-worshipping Portokalos family when their ugly duckling Toula (Nia Vardalos) married a WASP vegan Ian (John Corbett) and not much has changed. Now, writer (and star) Vardalos is recycling..I mean revisiting her roots hoping to strike gold again, with the same immensely likable characters that helped propel its predecessor to be the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time.

All that being said, the 2016 update does feel a tad like a sitcom (My Big Fat Greek Life anybody?) that perhaps could not find the right distributor but somehow managed to make it to a full length feature. Yet, for all my bets against me, I laughed quite a bit. I can’t argue for the plot, which really is there..to just exist. I can’t argue for the cheesy, albeit, forgetful one-liners and sequences we have seen countless times before. But, speaking as a fan of the original, the film does a service. While the plot is focused on nuptials, Toula’s parents Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan discover after 50 years their marriage certificate was never signed..thus being invalid. Causing the entire family to make sure the wedding goes off without a hitch, meanwhile Ian and Toula are struggling with their daughters plan to attend college in upstate New York as opposed to staying in Chicago.

Most of the gags you can see coming a mile away, whether it’s the over protective mother being hit in the face with a basketball, or having the parents catching Toula and Ian trying to make “hanky-panky” in the car, it’s still funny. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is not as creative the second time around, but the folks purchasing a ticket will eat this film like the comfort food they should, it’s as satisfying as a tray of homemade baklava. Opa!  B