Desmond Ryan of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" thought that Leslie Nielsen was deceptively portrayed in a major role similar to that of Lieutenant Frank Drebin from "The Naked Gun" films, instead having merely "a running and unfunny gag about his malfunctioning answering machine and generally wasted otherwise". Ryan also found the film's dialogue to be "painful" and considered "Surf Ninjas" to be "beyond airheaded". Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" considered the story of "Surf Ninjas" to be "harmless and painfully dull". LaSalle thought that the pacing of the film was too long with only "two smirks over the course of 90 minutes". Sean Piccoli of "The Washington Times" thought that the film's "dull stretch" was buoyed by the presence of Rob Schneider. Piccoli compared the martial arts choreography in the film to the "cartoon fantasies that little boys re-enact on neighbors' lawns: the good guys, alone and outnumbered by the charging horde, air-punch their way to glory".