"The New York Times" critic Caryn James described the film as "lyrical and profoundly goofy" and "one of the more intriguing messes on screen". Desson Howe wrote in "The Washington Post" that while the sequel was not totally unsuccessful, "the narrative journey up to this point has been so frustrating and inconsistent, the conclusion feels like an afterthought". "Time"s Richard Corliss summarized it as "a wondrous mess". "The Los Angeles Times" critic Kevin Thomas was more positive, assessing it as "just as luminous as" and "a considerably more complex film than "Wings of Desire"." Roger Ebert contemplated the casting of Nastassja Kinski as a new angel character, writing, "A few years ago Kinski would have been cast as one of the humans. Now her face can reflect the sadness, the experience, the wisdom that allows her to be an angel", explaining his argument by saying that at age 30, Kinski resembled her now-dead father Klaus in "The deep-set eyes. The hurt in the lips." "New York" responded to the casting of Gorbachev with a simple "Go figure".