It makes clearer much that was so vague in the original; it even jokes about how confusing its premise is. In short, audiences who made the first film successful enough to warrant a second will be getting a bit more for their money.
With its fancifully moldering sets and technical effects, Highlander 2 is little more than a barbarous arena, a Conanistic return to paganism for those among us who still laugh at violence.
The problem is – the film plays more like a brainstorm exercise than a feature length film. There are gobs of great ideas here, but none of them connect in the way fans likely wanted.
Audiences unfamiliar with the first film will be hard put to follow the action as it incoherently hops about in time and space.
30
Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle
The acting is terrible,with Connery, at his lowest common denominator, stealing the show. For those of you who worry that MTV video art will destroy cinema, the ineptitudes of this film vividly detail the radical difference in forms. It sucks. But it would have made a great comic book.
25
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
Highlander 2 is beautiful. But it's largely incoherent. The film is desperately overplotted; events and years rush by and pile up like cars in an interstate wreck. It's also terribly overexplained.
25
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
The dullest and shoddiest action-adventure flick of the year, with only a few cute Sean Connery moments to rescue it from total, sheer and utter bogosity. [01 Nov 1991, p.29]
20
Time Out
Time Out
Leaden, laden with effects, short on imagination.
12
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Highlander 2: The Quickening is the most hilariously incomprehensible movie I've seen in many a long day - a movie almost awesome in its badness.