My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding 2

This film pales in comparison to the first one in every way. That being said, it wasn't a waste of my time. My money, probably, but not my time.
Though it has been nearly twenty years since the wedding of Greek Toula (Nia Vardalos) to the WASP, Ian (John Corbett), things haven't changed much. Toula's father, Gus (Michael Constantine) still likes proving that everyone is Greek and how each word comes from a Greek word and believes that Windex can cure all. Now, his hip is bothering him and he's convinced that he's directly descended from Alexander the Great. But while looking up his family history, digging into the old papers, he discovers that his decades old marriage certificate was never signed. Oops. His wife, Maria (Lainie Kazan) is not thrilled. This time around, she wants a proper proposal. Their son (Louis Mandyor) is also a great man of words, he told his wife that he wanted to put a baby in her. Yikes.
Then there is Toula's daughter, Paris (Elena Kampouris), who wants to go to college and do something in her free time other than work at the restaurant. Oh yeah, Toula's travel agency went out of business thanks to the troubled economy. While Toula's parents want Paris to get a good Greek boyfriend, Toula and Ian want her to pick a good college close to home.
The film doesn't have a coherent plot as the first one did, this one struggling with two far weaker plot lines. The remarriage of Gus and Maria and Paris attempting to find her own way in the world. They give far less time to the second plot and it deserved far more, especially since it was the more interesting of the two. Especially since she eventually does get a boyfriend, Bennett (Alex Wolff) who happens to be Greek, but she didn't know that when she asked him out to prom, though that meant missing her grandparents wedding.
The wedding does happen, though Maria did have to scale back her big, fancy dream wedding. Though Gus's long lost brother from Greece arrives and the two drink far more than they should have. Maria does struggle, knowing now how many more opportunities women have now that they didn't have back then. But she still goes through with the wedding and then they party and have a great time. All is right in the world.
In this film, the supporting characters are still great, with the grandma (Bess Meisler, still alive) getting some great parts, like dancing in the streets wearing pajamas, but she urges young Paris to remain true to herself, and go to the college in New York, which she does. A cameo by John Stamos is completely wasted. But Angelo's (Joey Fatone's) sexuality is handled with grace and realism. His parents aren't surprised though they are upset that he didn't tell them earlier and then they overwhelm his personal and business partner.
I'm just glad that this film was enjoyable with the funniest scene being when Gus falls over in the bath tub and Maria calls the family to come and help and they run from their too close houses to help, though Toula still has to call 911.
The performances are still pretty good but the material just isn't as good as the first time around with Vardolas pulling at threads to get a film about the characters again. I will watch this film again, but not nearly as often as the first film. Grade: C+