New York Times
"...A very good-humored sequel..." 12/10/1993 p.C20Entertainment Weekly
"...NAKED GUN-style spoofery....Trashy, inspired goofs..." 01/21/1994 p.39 Variety
"...WAYNE'S WORLD 2 has an amazingly good nature. There's genuine affection accorded the characters and situations..." 12/20/1993 Entertainment Weekly
"...[It] reaches a higher, more original lunacy..." 12/17/1993 p.44-6 ReelViews 6 of 10
The original Wayne's World boasted a number of clever skits and parodies glued together by a silly plotline, but at least it was something new, and a little different. Wayne's World 2 offers far fewer clever skits and parodies glued together by a nonsensical plotline, and there's absolutely nothing remotely new or different about this sequel...There are some worthwhile moments in Wayne's World 2, but not enough to justify a feature-length movie. In the "humorous parodies" category are a lampooning of Hong Kong chop-socky films, take-offs of various old TV commercials (one of which occurs mid-way through the closing credits -- those who typically leave early, take notice), and a quick satire of a famous Jurassic Park scene. Equally amusing are sequences where Garth reacts with horror to the thought of listening to mellow musician Kenny G, and where Wayne, Garth, and friends impersonate the Village People. That's about it, though, and even the funniest parts aren't original...In addition to Myers and Carvey, Tia Carrere also returns, although her character is relegated to a disjointed subplot that involves an underscripted slimeball record producer played by Christopher Walken (who does a marvellous job pretending that he's playing the heavy in a serious movie). There are a number of cameos -- Kim Basinger, Drew Barrymore, Heather Locklear, Charlton Heston, Kevin Pollack, Olivia D'Abo, Jay Leno, Rip Taylor, Aerosmith, and others -- but few of these star-studded moments provide anything truly creative. At times, Wayne's World 2 tries to be The Naked Gun, and falls flat on its face...In the final analysis, Wayne's World 2 lacks inspiration, and uses ninety-five minutes trying to find some. As sequels go, this isn't the worst of the year, but Wayne and Garth's shtick is getting old. This is mass-market comedy at its least impressive. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
The secret to the comedy of the "Wayne's World" movies is their goodwill. They're vulgar, offensive, raunchy and even, in the precise diction of the MPAA Code and Ratings Administration, "ribald," but they are never mean-spirited, and in Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar the series has created two characters it is impossible to dislike...Wayne and Garth, played by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, are of course the co-hosts of their own cable access TV program in Aurora, Ill. In the first film they broadcast out of the basement of Wayne's house, but now they have moved up - all the way to quarters in an abandoned warehouse...The plot is set in motion by a dream, in which Jim Morrison appears to Wayne in a desert, and advises him to hold a rock concert in Aurora ("If you book them, they will come"). The preparations for Waynestock occupy most of the picture, as the boys travel to London to recruit the world's greatest stage manager (Ralph Brown), now retired to a life of retailing the same boring and false rock anecdotes over and over again...One of the charms of Wayne and Garth is their vocabulary, which in the first film relied extensively on variations of the verb "hurl," but in this one has been expanded to include a name for a substance that had previously gone nameless: "lung butter." They also get a lot of mileage out of "Schwinnnggg!," which they pronounce every time a babe walks by...If Wayne and Garth ever grow confident of their success, the series will be over. Everything depends on the delighted disbelief with which they greet every new victory. Backstage at a rock concert, they flaunt their press passes with childlike pride, and when a security man slams a gate in their face, Wayne protests, "Hey, my girlfriend's in there!" The guard replies, "A lot of people's girlfriends are in there." Wayne and Garth peer forlornly through the steel mesh, our brothers under the skin. - Roger Ebert
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