Wog Boy 2 - Kings of Mykonos

Synopsis: Steve “Wog Boy” Karamitsis (Nick Giannopoulos) gets news from Greece that his uncle has died, leaving him a beach and a taverna worth millions. With his Italian friend Frank (Vince Colosimo) he heads over to the island of Mykonos. There Steve discovers that the babes on the island are gorgeous, everyone seems to be related and Greek bureaucracy is a force to be reckoned with. Steve’s “relative” Mihali (Alex Dimitriades) has his eye on the newly inherited beach for a development, while Frank is determined to revive his flagging libido.

Ten years ago The Wog Boy was a resounding box office hit. This much-awaited sequel should be a great crowd-pleaser. It certainly pleased me but I have to confess to being a Hellenophile and having a whole film’s length to gawp at the glorious island of Mykonos ain’t half bad! .

For anyone who knows the Greek style, there are laughs galore as we are regaled with the Greek sense of self importance, the Greek sense of family, and of course the infamous Greek corruption. Perhaps it is a coincidence, but this film comes at a very fitting time, what with the country sinking fast due in part to the endemic practice of bribery, known as ‘fakelaki’, the name which of course gives rise to plenty of puns. One line really struck home: “Ever since the government stopped my compensation payments I’ve had to work for a living” – telling indeed, and typical of ‘Greekonomy’, as the film refers to it!

Most the characters in this film are so likeable. Steve, though portrayed as a bit of a dork and a loser (first he loses his beloved car, then just about every girl he claps eyes on) is funny throughout the film, and yet something about him is soft and appealing. Colosimo plays the self-style Italian spunk who hopes to compete with Luigi (Kevin Sorbo), who is the current King of Mykonos thanks to the 43 babes he bedded in one month. The babes are mouth-wateringly lovely, especially Zoe (Seta Makrypoulia) who is a nightclub singer and who entrances Steve, as well as Miss Italy (Cosima Coppola), a reclusive brunette with whom Frank is smitten. Then there is Tony The Yugoslav, (Kostas Kilias), a man with a very bizarre speech pattern, Uncle Dzimi (Dimitris Starovas), who is constantly at pains to point out the pronunciation of his name, and a wonderful pair of very serious German archaeologists, Theo and Otto. The one character we don’t like is the manipulative, ruthless and wealthy Mihalis, superbly played by Dimitriades. To top it all off is the fabulous goat, Apollo, whose droppings are of special interest, and a smattering of braying Greek donkeys.

Colosimo and Giannopoulos team well together, with great screen rapport (and a memorable dancing scene). The humour is often self-deprecatory and the jokes fly thick and fast, especially a couple of very crass multilingual ones worth watching out for. Germans, Yugoslavs, Turks and Aussies all come in for a pasting, but none so much as the Greeks. The plot is basically good fun from go to whoa, with plenty of romantic twists, enough action to drive it along, a great (and at times retro disco) soundtrack, but the real star is the spectacularly beautiful scenery of Mykonos.

All in all, Wog Boy 2 – Kings of Mykonos is a good-natured romp with plenty of laughs,and for armchair travellers the next best thing to actually being in Greece.

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