Son of Kong (1933) Review

Son of Kong (1933) Review

Many of the great movie monsters have had sequels with “Son of” in the title. Son of Godzilla, Son of Frankenstein, and this one, the offspring of the greatest American giant monster, King Kong. I’m always amazed how the follow-up to one of the most well-known and beloved classics of cinema is so unknown today. Even more amazing, it came out the same year as the original!

Taking place about a month after the tragic conclusion to King Kong, Carl Denham is a wanted man. He mopes around until embarking on a voyage with Captain Englehorn on the same ship that brought Kong to New York. While at a Dutch port, Denham meets the daughter of a showman, and a shady captain named Helstrom who gave Denham the original map to Skull Island. Helstrom says there’s a lost treasure on the island, so they go back there to look for it. After a mutiny takes place, Denham and company go ashore and encounter an albino, twelve-foot-tall ape—a “little Kong”—stuck in quicksand. He helps him out, and Little Kong repays the debt by helping them obtain the treasure and saving them from some of Skull Island’s dangerous creatures. 

Son of Kong retains some of what made the original great, but it’s quite a different film. It trades in the epic scope and harrowing drama for a more light-hearted, smaller scale adventure. Despite clocking in at only an hour and nine minutes, it takes much longer for the characters to get to Skull Island, and even longer for the creatures to appear on screen. There’s a random part when Denham and Englehorn are watching a show at the Dutch port where a bunch of dressed up monkeys are playing instruments. The filmmakers clearly weren’t taking the material as serious this time around. 

  

There are less creatures, less locations, and less epic moments in comparison to King Kong, but still enough to make it worthwhile. A fight between Little Kong and a prehistoric bear is the highlight of the film. A few other dinosaurs—namely a Styracosaurus, Nothosaurus, and Elasmosaurus—make brief appearances, as well. The stop motion effects are good, but feel slightly less refined compared to before, and less ambitious. 

Little Kong is played for comedic effect, but still conveys emotion. At the end, a massive earthquake makes the island sink into the ocean, and Little Kong actually sacrifices his own life to save Carl Denham, holding him up above the waves while he goes down with the island, his foot stuck in a crevice. It’s actually a pretty sad end to Kong’s lineage, even if it’s a far cry from the iconic finale at the Empire State Building.    

Son of Kong has failed to attain the classic status like the original for valid reasons. It simply isn’t as impressive as King Kong, but doesn’t come across like it’s trying to be anything more than it is. It’s a fun little epilogue to the original, and for huge fans of the 1933 original King Kong, it’s a must-see.