After 2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding turned into a massive hit, a sequel became inevitable. When 2016’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 made less than 25 percent of the first film’s gross, I predicted the franchise would end there.

Nostradamus I ain’t. Thus 2023 brought us My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.

In the first movie, frumpy Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) met and married hunky Ian Miller (John Corbett) in their Big Fat Greek Wedding. The second film found them long-attached parents of high school senior Paris (Elena Kampouris) and revolved around the notion Toula’s dad Gus (Michael Constantine) and mom Maria (Lainie Kazan) were never legally married so they needed their own Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Despite the real-world gap in time since Wedding 2, Wedding 3 picks up a mere year later. Maria now suffers from dementia but she remembers enough to insist that Toula follow through with the recently deceased Gus’s wish to visit his old village in Greece and deliver a journal to his childhood pals.

This sends the extended Portokalos clan to Greece. There they encounter a mix of wacky shenanigans and challenges.

But will there be another Big Fat Greek Wedding? Yes – and to the thrill of absolutely no one, it involves characters we never met until now and who play a small role in the proceedings!

And will there be a Wedding 4? Even with my failed prediction in 2016, I feel really confident Wedding 3 marks the end of the line.

Despite the fact Wedding 2 made only $90 million worldwide versus the first film’s nearly $369 million, its low $18 million budget meant it still turned a decent profit.

I couldn’t find a specific price tag for Wedding 3, but I can’t imagine it cost less than Wedding 2’s budget. With a worldwide gross of a mere $38 million, the movie almost certainly failed to make money, and it probably lost bucks.

It remains unclear why Vardalos waited 14 years between the first and second movies. Perhaps the failure of the short-lived TV series My Big Fat Greek Life scared her off a second film, or maybe she just wanted to attempt a career not solely based on her 2002 hit.

Whatever the case, 14 years seemed far too long to wait between the first and second chapters, and the seven years between the second and third offerings does the franchise no favors either. (Apparently Vardalos wanted to produce this tale sooner but the pandemic disrupted those plans.) Whatever audience the property once enjoyed seems long gone 21 years after the initial release.

I thought the 2002 Wedding offered a terrible movie and the first sequel was even worse. Did Wedding 3 miraculously bounce back and finally connect me to Toula and company?

Unsurprisingly, no. Given my experiences with the first two movies, I can’t call Wedding 3 a disappointment, but it certainly does nothing to improve this dunderheaded franchise.

The first two flicks existed as little more than wacky shenanigans from wacky characters, with emphasis on ethnic stereotypes and quirks. At least the 2002 movie existed some organic reason, whereas that seems untrue for the sequels.

Was there really anything compelling in the Toula/Ian story left to tell? No, and the fact Wedding 2 resorted to ridiculous plot contrivances made this abundantly clear.

Wedding 3 doesn’t find a stronger plot either, especially when it comes to the titular nuptials. As noted, these utilize new characters, roles that get far too little screentime for us to invest in them or care.

Wedding 3 spreads itself desperately thin, especially given its running time. At a mere 92 minutes, it involves far too many participants to engage in them adequately.

This means we lose track of them often and find little actual development. The clear lead of the first film, Toula now becomes borderline superfluous.

Wedding 3 barely boasts a plot. Instead, it indulges in stabs at comedy, pathos and romance without a lick of coherence.

Little here makes sense, and it all feels like the cinematic product it is. If they exist, diehard franchise fans might enjoy this witless, pointless sequel, but I can’t imagine Wedding 3 will generate any new fans.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a satisfactory presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed solid. Virtually no softness materialized, so the end result felt accurate and detailed.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were absent, as the movie looked consistently clean.

The palette ended up dominated by teal, with more than a little amber/orange as well. Within those parameters, the hues were positive.

Blacks seemed deep and dark, while shadows showed good smoothness and clarity. I felt happy with the transfer.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Wedding 3, it lacked a ton of ambition. The soundfield focused on music and ambience, though it opened up on occasion, mainly in terms of a nightclub and weather. Nothing especially memorable occurred, though.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Music offered good clarity and range, and effects worked well enough. They didn’t have much to do, but they appeared reasonably accurate. All of this ended up as a perfectly satisfactory soundtrack for this sort of movie.

A few extras appear, and we open with an audio commentary from writer/director/actor Nia Vardalos. She offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and shooting in Greece, music and audio, photography, and connected topics.

Vardalos offers a perfectly competent commentary, one that touches on an appropriate array of domains. However, Vardalos tends to keep things somewhat superficial, so don’t expect many real insights in this engaging but less than deep chat.

A Gag Reel runs seven minutes, 43 seconds. It provides the usual goofs and giggles.

Deleted/Extended Scenes occupy a total of two minutes, 11 seconds. These offer some more gags and a little more character info for Liberty and Nick. Nothing substantial arrives.

Two featurettes ensue, and On Set goes for three minutes, 21 seconds. It offers notes from Vardalos, producer Rita Wilson, director of photography Barry Peterson, production designer Grant Armstron, head of production Kostas Kefalas, line producer Kostas Raftopoulos, and actors Louis Mandylor, Gia Carides, Nick Fatone, Andrea Martin, Elena Kampouris, Elias Kacavas, John Corbett and Maria Vacratsis.

We look at Vardalos’s move to the director’s chair. A couple decent notes emerge but we already hear a lot more in the commentary. Throw in plenty of praise and the reel lacks substance.

Opa! lasts seven minutes. It brings notes from Vardalos, Wilson, Corbett, Carides, Fatone, Kampouris, Kacavas, Martin, Mandylor, Vacratsis, Peterson, and actors Stephanie Nur, Alexis Georgoulis, and Melina Kotselou.

We hear about the sequel’s development, story/characters, and shooting in Greece. “Opa” brings a serviceable overview of the production, though it leans fluffy.

Finally, we get an Extended Take for “Wedding Drum Song”. It spans one minute and brings a forgettable addition.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Wedding 3. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

21 years after the first film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 continues the franchise with a thud. Given the crummy nature of the prior flicks, I cannot claim it shows a decline in quality, but it nonetheless fails to change my mind about the series. The Blu-ray comes with excellent visuals, adequate audio and a mix of bonus materials. Wedding 3 does nothing to redeem the franchise.