John T. Ryan WE'VE LONG had a very skeptical view of the sequel. All too often we see what is not any true attempt to continue the spirit of the original, but more of an attempt to exploit the success that was generated by the critical acclaim and/or the boffo box office $ucce$$ of its popularity generated with the public.THIS WAS PARTICULARLY true in the era of the "Roman Numeral" Series. We really liked and enjoyed the heck out of JAWS and DEATH WISH; but firmly believed that there should never have been any extensions. ROCKY was a fine little picture with a small budget, but the follow-ups always left a little to be desired.* SOME NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS to this rule of ours are BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE GODFATHER, PART 2; both of which improved on the originals.THIS PRODUCTION OF a sequel to KING KONG is yet another story. It exists purely as a tool to make up for some co$t overruns of the original "DADDY" KONG. There was no other series pictures planned, with only this budgetary silver parachute being its only purpose.SIMPLY STATED, WE join up with a now broke and depressed Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), finding him sulking over the total flop on Broadway (pun) that his big gorilla show was. Bankrupt and dejected, he meets up with another lady, (Helen Mack); with whom he journeys back to Skull Island to recoup his losses.JOINED IN THIS new voyage we have Captain Engelhorn (Frank Reicher reprising his role), as the skipper of the ship. They go to the island, meet up with the native leadership team (Steve Clemente as Witch Doctor and Noble Johnson as Chief). Both Church and State are represented, but they are separate but equal.TRAVELING AROUND THE island (which seems much more docile by now), the pair meets up with a small fry version of KONG; who hasn't developed his appetite for female human sacrifice. He befriends the, protects them from some less than spectacular beastly foes and eventually manages to hand a bag of treasure to Carl as the island; as little KONGY sinks into the ocean with the island. (The End).THAT'S IT AND that's all. We know that the audiences of 1933 were surely disappointed, as we were in the 1950's EARLY SHOW on Channel 7, WBKB in Chicago.AND YOU NEVER have seen it being revived or featured in any of the great film magazines and journals.AND JUST WHY was this so? We can only surmise:"SMALL WONDER!" ISN'T THAT RIGHT, Schultz? NOTE: * The Stallone ROCKY Movies do manage to fall somewhere between the polar opposites that we've enumerated. Maybe that's why Sly is making yet another installment after nearly 30 years.

bigjackfilms PLOT - Several months after he disastrously brought Kong to Manhattan, former adventure filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) hides out from his debtors in a boarding house. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against him, and he learns that he has been indicted by a grand jury for the destruction caused by Kong. When Capt. Englehorn (Frank Reicher) suggests that they immediately set sail for the South Pacific to become merchants, Denham jumps at the opportunity. Along the way, they meet with Helstrom (John Marston) the skipper who gave Denham the map to the island and Helene (Helen Mack) who will be Denham's love interest. They return to Skull Island, were Denham and Helene find "Little Kong," a 12- foot-tall white gorilla who Denham assumes is Kong's son. Feeling sorry for the events that happened to the predecessor, Denham takes Little under his wing, while still being wary of the creature. They encounter several creatures until the finale where they must survive the fate of the island.REVIEW - This is a good movie, using the same talented crafts from the original. The only thing different about it is that it's to me the fastest production I've ever seen, being released the exact same year as the original, that is unbelievable for a sequel. Though it is entertaining and interesting, it could have been better. It feels very rushed and I wish they could have taken their time on it. It's shorter than the first movie, and at times drags.CHARACTERS - The Characters are once again fantastic and we see more development in them, especially Denham and the pity he feels of what happened to Kong. Helstrom is a great, but cowardly villain. The scene in the bar with him Denham and Englehorn is very well acted and written. VFX - The animation and effects are once again fantastic, seeing creatures like the Styracosaurs which was cut from the first film. Although some creatures though cool looking, don't really make much sense, like the Cave Bear and Dragons. Really? You couldn't have picked more dinosaurs from the fossil record? Kiko (Little Kong) is more cute and funny than he is terrifying like his predecessor. His character is I hate to say like a mute Jar Jar Binks, clumsy and silly. The sound is great once again, and the music is okay, there is allot of recycled music from the first.OVERALL - It's a good movie and a good sequel, but just not on par or as memorable as the first. So let's give it the benefit of the doubt.

Henry Kujawa Having watched KING KONG Monday night, this seemed obvious for Tuesday.The sequel, I read, was quickly knocked out in about 8 months, for about one-THIRD the budget of the original. This caused Willis O'Brien to get soured on it, and 2 major sequences planned to be cut. One of these would have involved a tribal war on the island, the other, a dinosaur stampede when the earthquake starts.I note how "sad" most of the film is. The entire long build-up really gets to you after awhile, every character in the film seems perpetually down on their luck, some because of their own actions, others not. Helstrom is a real creep-- he gets into a fight while drunk, "accidentally" kills his drinking partner and then runs out when a fire starts. Later, he incites a ship's crew to mutiny, then gets tossed overboard with the Captain! By the time that dinosaur stuck his head out of the water and ATE him, I figured he had it coming.The girl Helene, who Carl Denning eventually falls for, actually wound up reminding me a bit of my MOM this time around. Not much of a singing voice, puts herself into a situation despite people telling her not to, sticking with a guy despite whatever. Plus she kinda LOOKED like Mom. Made me think Denning seemed a lot LESS nuts than my Dad was.The best part of the film-- OF COURSE-- is what most audiences would be waiting for-- THE ISLAND. The styracosaurus is COOL! Is this the only dinosaur movie that ever had one? "Little Kong" winds up being the exact opposite of his bad-tempered uber-destructive dad. Curious, friendly, even helpful (but not too bright). The fights with the giant bear and the dragon were cool. It's heart-warming, funny and exciting. The design of the "temple" is also cool, though I'd have thought there'd be a lot more "treasure" than just ONE big necklace. Either the print or the quality of effects shots seem BETTER than on the first film, which is really odd.The ending seems completely uncalled-for. Sort of like blowing up the entire planet in that 2nd APES film. I realize now where I've seen it before-- it's very similar to the climax of the novel THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. In that, the castaways have spent months building an escape craft, only to have it DESTROYED just before they could use it when the entire island disintegrates (I forget if a volcano was involved or not, as in the Harryhausen version). Only as they cling desperately to the last remaining fragments of the island does a rescue ship FINALLY arrive, led there by a message left on the OTHER island they visited in the book (but not in the movie). Hollywood has a long habit of swiping from various sources uncredited. I'd bet this is one of those.I could see an earthquake causing a stampede, but NOT completely sinking an island that had been there for MILLIONS of years, which just happens to sink right when Carl Denning is there. Like I said, the whole build-is is so sad, then, following a more upbeat middle, it ends on another sad note. Sure, Carl & the others will be rich once they hock that necklace, and he & Helene look like they'll probably get married. But there was NO need to kill off ALL those critters in the process. Just feels like someone's way of saying, "We're NOT doing another sequel-- DAMMIT!"

hung_fao_tweeze I am aware that it touts having Willis O'Brien on hand for the effects, but it really doesn't. Cooper and Schoedsack are mostly the in name alone. In fact, as noted in other reviews, this was a rushed affair to capitalize on 'King Kong' and was done for laughs. This is somewhat unfortunate because this could have ended up being a fairly decent flick instead of the fluff it ended up being. I like the idea of Skull Island being a mystery that needed to be unlocked. This sequel kind of dilutes that possibility by saying, "Yeah, Kong was great but we were only kidding." It starts out very credibly with good ol' Carl Denham up to his eyeballs in legal problems after the Kong and he is looking for a way out. In fact, much of the build up to eventually ending up on Skull Island is a fairly decent adventure story with murder and intrigue. Even the natives are still annoyed that their god has been taken - their motivation for existing was eliminated and they live with a profound vacancy. Naturally, they want nothing to do with Denham and encourage him to be on his way. So, they paddle their way around the island until they can find a place to set down - it's sheer precipice, remember? At this point the sense of reality distorts as the ambiance becomes noticeably enhanced miniature. Not the attention to detail, but a rushed camera tracking through a watertank. We meet little Kong and despite Armstrong's acting as if scared, we aren't. Nearly the rest of the movie takes place in this little area that has nearly no awe, majesty or mystery. It looks like a sound stage. There is a dinosaur chase scene that has none of the excitement as the brontosaur in the original. In fact, it even looks like it was slapped together to hastily get through it. L'il Kong fighting a huge bear is, frankly, underwhelming as is his eventual battle with a goofy long necked who-knows-what. The whole thing looks and feels rushed. Then, in order to get to the end of the film what better way than destroy the island? A classic vehicle as a means to an end. It is tragic enough though. But truly by the end I felt cheated. It is a rather short film so I felt like maybe a chunk had been removed somehow. But no. It's all here - just thrown together with haste and actually with little to no support from the original crew. A obvious movie demanding a decent remake.