Film Review
RKO wasted no time capitalising on the success of their 1933 hit
King
Kong and immediately rushed out this cut price sequel which,
whilst inferior to the first
Kong
movie in virtually every respect, is still an entertaining romp.
This time, the production team went for laughs rather than thrills and
chills, so the film had a potentially wider market than its
predecessor, although it fared far less well at the box office.
As in the first
Kong outing,
what most impresses are Willis H. O'Brien's stunning visual
effects. A combination of sophisticated model work, stop-motion
photography and matte processing achieves some remarkable results and
it is often impossible to see where the model shots end and the life
action shots begin, so seamlessly are the two married together.
Yes, the film has its flaws. The dialogue is awful, the direction
bland, and the performances so bad that you wonder how the cast were
ever able to earn even a subsistence wage. Yet all of this is forgiven
when the cute albino Kong offspring enters the frame and starts fending
off an array of prehistoric monsters to save his human chums.
Admittedly, the climax isn't as smartly rendered or as exciting as that
of the original King movie but it still makes an effective denouement
to an acceptable sequel. RKO would have one final flirtation with ape-themed
melodrama in their 1949 film
Mighty Joe Young.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Carl Denham, the adventurer who brought King Kong to New York, faces
ruin and imprisonment as a result of the damage caused by the giant ape
when it ran amok. Evading the authorities, he joins up with his
old friend Captain Englehorn and the two set off to start a new life
shipping cargo in the Far East. On their arrival at the
port of Dakang, Denham runs into Nils Helstrom, the man who sold him
the map of the island where he discovered King Kong. When
Helstrom reveals that there is a fabulous lost treasure on the island,
Denham makes a hasty return to the island, convinced he will make his
fortune. What he and his friends find is not treasure but
something just as fantastic - the son of King Kong...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.