Documentaries have recently revealed how many kooky personalities are involved in such apparently marginal passions as spelling bees and crossword puzzles. But nothing could prepare us for “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” a hilarious look inside the world of competitive video gaming.
By a combination of good luck and perseverance, filmmakers Seth Gordon and Ed Cunningham have struck movie gold with this true-life story. They realized it would be a fine idea to document the quest of Steve Wiebe, a recently laidoff Boeing worker in Redmond, to break the all-time high score in the old-school video game Donkey Kong.
As the film carefully explains, this score was set in 1982 by the legendary “Gamer of the Century” Billy Mitchell. Well sure, everybody knows that. Mitchell is still very much around -along with basking in his glory, he markets his own hot sauce – and protective of his record.
What follows is a chronicle of Wiebe’s attempts to convince the gaming powers-that-be, who are pompous and lordly (they have more than a touch of “The Simpsons” Comic Book Guy), that he has well and truly topped the all-time Donkey Kong point score.
Much wrangling follows, along with a colorful parade of supporting characters, including Mitchell’s sycophantic sidekick, Wiebe’s very patient wife and a meticulous gaming records-keeper.
Wiebe and Mitchell are tailor-made opposites. Wiebe is a genial doofus with a brain wired for decoding the nuances of a video game. Mitchell is a control freak with a knack for foot-in-mouth platitudes and a black mullet hairdo.
The filmmakers thus set up an irresistible battle between Steve Skywalker and Darth Mitchell, even if the reality of this story was probably a little more complicated than portrayed here. (Billy Mitchell, who hasn’t seen the finished film, has complained about his depiction, and is preparing his own response – and when you see the movie, you’ll know why this perfectly fits his character.)
The peculiar world of hardcore gaming is nicely explored, and “King of Kong” is careful about not ridiculing its people. They’re odd enough on their own.
Besides, you know that if a film looked closely enough at the world of investment bankers or librarians or movie reviewers, you’d find the same collection of alpha dogs, suck-ups and hangers-on.
“The King of Kong” is a blast, and at least as entertaining as most of the fictional films out there. Tear yourself away from your console and check it out.
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