The film was one of three films not shown to critics on the release date (the other two being The Marine and One Night with the King). It received notably worse reviews from critics than its predecessor, with an approval rating of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes (76 reviews) compared to The Grudges 40%. The site's consensus simply labels the film as "A diminished sequel that makes even less sense than The Grudge 1". Metacritic gave the film a score of 33/100 based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The film was criticized by several critics for its confusing plot. Keith Phipps from The A.V. Club wrote, "While The Grudge 2 deserves some credit for creating and sustaining a creepy atmosphere, it doesn't matter much when the plot doesn't go anywhere." Pete Vonder Haar from Film Threat found "[t]he same problems that plagued the original are on display here. Most notably, the lack of any coherent plot." Paul Debrudge from Variety stated, "The story is incidental, as auds merely anticipate the scares." Tim Goernert from Joblo "found it really hard to follow the story as well, as there were three of them happening at the same time." The film has also been criticized as being eye candy. Terry Lawson from the Detroit Free Press judged, "The Grudge 2 is just a mélange of images, some mildly disturbing, but mostly just variations on a theme."
