Most critics call it a rare sequel that improves on the original: funnier, darker and with rather more plot. The praise clusters around the cast. Anjelica Huston and Raúl Juliá are repeatedly described as a genuinely romantic screen couple, Christina Ricci’s deadpan Wednesday and the summer camp scenes are singled out by nearly everyone, and Joan Cusack’s scheming nanny is welcomed as the ideal new villain. Barry Sonnenfeld’s direction and the production design also draw approval, as does Paul Rudnick’s script for its sharper double entendres and satirical jabs.
The reservations are about story and stamina. Several find the plot slim and episodic, and the Los Angeles Times says the frenetic pace eventually tips into tedium. The Independent thinks it could be more savage, and Time Out rates it merely passable, no more coherent than the first film. The spread is otherwise narrow: six positive, two mixed, none negative, and the retrospective reviews written years later are the warmest.