Film

The Son of Kong

Name: The Son of Kong
Genre: Adventure, Action, Horror, Family, Science Fiction
Released: 1933
Cast: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston, Victor Wong

Treasure hunt

A brisk sequel that abandons pretense of seriousness for pure adventure spectacle. Carl Denham returns to Skull Island seeking redemption and fortune, finding instead a gentler, smaller Kong who becomes his unlikely companion. It's fast, silly, and unafraid to be fun—a creature-feature that prioritizes wonder and movement over the darker anxieties of the original.

TMDb rating

2.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love vintage monster movies with rough handmade charm and a brisk, slightly cheeky streak, and you don't mind a sequel that feels knocked off in a hurry.

Skip it if you want the awe and scale of the 1933 original, since this is smaller, cheaper-looking and far more interested in comic adventuring than in wonder.

What it asks of you: Seventy minutes with no wasted ground: it lurches quickly from one set piece to the next, so settle into a short, bouncy ride rather than a slow build.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

King Kong1933

The original that invented the template: a man's ambition brings something magnificent and terrible to the world. Grander in scope, deeper in its tragedy, and genuinely awestruck by its own spectacle.

But Seventy minutes of stop-motion animation from 1933 can feel static by modern standards. The pacing is deliberate, patient, sometimes languid.

Mighty Joe Young1949

Plays the inverse: a giant ape raised with love rather than captured for profit. Warmer and more sentimental than Kong, with extraordinary effects work by the same team, and it earns its optimism honestly.

But The sentimentality can tip into saccharine. It's gentler, which some will find precious rather than touching.

The Lost World1925

The ur-text of lost-world adventure: explorers discover a plateau where prehistoric creatures thrive. Faster-paced than you'd expect, genuinely inventive with its effects, and carried by infectious enthusiasm.

But The comedy is broad and sometimes uncomfortable by modern standards. It's also silent, which requires patience and goodwill.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Son of Kong

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

She1935

Both are creature-and-wonder adventure stories from the same era using the same creative resources, but She proves that this template could serve myth and mystery rather than just spectacle and capture.

Lost-world adventure built on the same DNA as Kong but with actual intelligence underneath: explorers discover an ancient civilization ruled by an immortal woman. Weird, atmospheric, and genuinely strange in a way modern films have learned not to be.

But It's slow and sometimes feels airless. The female lead is treated as an object of desire rather than a character, which doesn't aged well.

Creature from the Black Lagoon1954

A creature-feature that respects both its monster and its setting. Atmospheric, economical with its scares, and surprisingly thoughtful about what we fear and why we hunt it.

But The second half abandons atmosphere for action. Interested in the Creature as a character, not as a threat to be overcome.

Journey to the Center of the Earth1959

Underground wonders, impossible geology, and a cast clearly having the time of their lives. The adventure is earnest without being portentous; you can feel the joy in the making.

But It's cheerful to the point of weightlessness. If you want stakes or darkness, you're in the wrong film.

Journey to the Center of the Earth poster

The Land Unknown1957

Lost-world adventure stripped to essentials: a plane crashes in an Antarctic jungle, dinosaurs roam, survival matters more than spectacle. Lean and genuinely tense, with an underwater monster sequence that holds up.

But Low budget means the creatures are sometimes unconvincing. It's modest in ambition, which can read as slight.

Venom1981

A snake-loose-in-a-building thriller that understands tension comes from small spaces and proximity. Klaus Kinski and Sterling Hayden elevate material that could easily be ridiculous.

But It's a B-movie with an A-movie cast. The premise is inherently silly, and it only sometimes commits to taking itself seriously.

Anaconda1997

Adventure-thriller that knows exactly what it is: a snake-hunt in the Amazon with genuine personality and a scenery-chewing Jon Voight. It's shameless, and shamelessness has its charm.

But The CGI snake is occasionally hilarious in ways unintended. It's dumb in the way blockbusters have learned to be dumb, which isn't the same as fun.

King Kong vs. Godzilla1962

Two icons collide in a film that understands spectacle is its own justification. Faster-paced than any other Kong sequel, genuinely entertaining, and committed to the absurdity of its premise.

But It's cheerfully disinterested in character or plot. If you need story to sustain interest, this will feel like spinning wheels.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen1988

Both films prioritize the joy and spectacle of adventure over narrative coherence or emotional depth. Both are fundamentally in love with the *idea* of adventure, with travel and movement and creatures, more than with plot or character.

A film about impossible adventures filmed with impossible impossibility. Terry Gilliam's visual maximalism capturing a old man telling tall tales. It's adventure as style, spectacle as meaning, and utterly unafraid to look ridiculous in pursuit of wonder.

But It's genuinely difficult to follow and exhaustingly ornate. Some will find it brilliant; others will find it bloated and self-indulgent.