King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters Reviewed

I really thought I knew exactly what to expect from this, another geek documentary which unmercifully tears apart some poor desperate souls with real social and personality issues.  A heartless pish-take of those with very little to their real lives.  For the first 20 minutes of King of Kong it appears that will indeed be the case.  You see the stars of King of Kong are Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell rival world record holders for the classic arcade game Donkey Kong, but there’s a lot more to the heart of Kong.

A quick background on our stars tells us Billy Mitchell set his record at the age of 17 in 1982 of 874,300 points.  Billy has had a successful life building his own business in condiment distribution and a restaurant.  His arrogance and mullet quickly put him in the bad guy corner.  His musings on life just scream twat.  Steve Wiebe on the other hand has always had the cards fall against him.  A tryer but never a winner, he’s the family man who people still talk about as the man who choked on the night of the big game.  Despite a seemingly comfortable life in suburbia with his wife and kids he lacks a major achievement to put beside his name.  When he’s made unemployed he decides that he needs to drive himself for that achievement, the breaking of Billy Mitchell’s 1983 world Donkey Kong record.  To get there though he has his own frustration and insecurities to break through.

Mitchell makes for a good villain, he’s racked up many top scores in his time on a variety of games and even made the news in Britain in 1999 when he got the first ever perfect score in Pacman.  For much of the film his dismissive attitude and apparent string pulling from behind the scenes make him an engaging presence.  Eventually we see cracks in his confident personality and his desire to win has much in common with Wiebe’s own drive.  Wiebe’s dedication to the task and determination make for entertaining viewing.  The characters around the gaming organisation Twin Galaxies seem to block Wiebe’s every effort and have their own issues.

I found myself second guessing the psychologies of the players throughout.  This is a film that is much more rewarding if instead of dismissing the geeks on show you try and relate to their insecurities and dreams.  There is minimal interference on film from the filmmakers, there’s no voice-over and we only here them while interviewing the cast.  As with all documentaries of this kind there is a question of manipulation of events and the egging on of confrontation but there is little evidence of it and for the most part it flows naturally.  Indeed if you’re not totally wrapped up in it by the climax record attempt I doubt you have any capacity for emotion at all ;-)  These are real people and there is much to identify with here whatever the subject of their attentions.

Highly recommended viewing.

9/10

Official Site:

http://www.billyvssteve.com/