By Simon Ward

Titan Books, out now

A lavishly illustrated and eye-opening book on the latest monster hit.

Even if you didn’t particularly rate the latest contribution to Legendary’s monster franchise at the cinema, there’s plenty to absorb in Simon Ward’s fascinating look at the making of the film, which is packed with concept art, and some stunning paintings that show just how much thought went into the visual side of the movie.

Don’t jump over director Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ introduction – although elements of it do reappear in the main text, there is a great deal of insight into the way that the movie came together. He didn’t want to simply remake the classic film, he wanted to find out more about Kong’s backstory, and tell that in the Vietnam era. He and his team had certain images in mind, and if it felt at times as if the film was a series of set pieces with some interconnective tissue, then, frankly, that’s what it was. It’s definitely one of those pieces that reveals more than the writer intended.

The book doesn’t just cover everything we saw on screen – there’s a fascinating section on unused (not just deleted) scenes with illustrations of sections from which you can understand why they never made it past the concept stage – and input from a lot of those involved with the movie.

Verdict: You’ll be pulled in by the artwork, but intrigued by the text. 9/10

Paul Simpson