On Film: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Directed by Seth Gordon

Starring Billy Mitchell

Here me out on this, if you aren't into videogames at all you can still enjoy this film.  Sure videogames, specifically Donkey Kong, are the glue that brings the people in this documentary together but the real story are the people in the film.

The Movie

Billy Mitchell has been an icon of retro gaming for 20 years.  He holds a number of world records including high scores in Pac-Man and in Donkey Kong.  He's pretty full of himself and at the same time he's pretty vein so he doesn't look like a geek that rolled out of bed and went straight to the arcade sans clean clothes or a bath, so Mitchell has made a great front man for the world of retro gaming. 

All things were calm in Billy Mitchell's world until along came a man who was out of work and found himself hooked on the idea of beating Mitchell's record.  Steve Wiebe was an underdog but he was determined and what followed was surprising.  These gamers, and the organization responsible for monitoring these records take the whole thing extremely seriously even going as far as dismantling Wiebe's Donkey Kong machine to see if it had been tampered with.

Everyone involved with retro gaming seems to love Billy Mitchell and they really throw their support behind him throughout the competition between Wiebe and Mitchell.  The creators of this film are on the opposite side as they cut the film in such a way as to create a super villain for Wiebe to go up against.  Now, there's no denying that Mitchell is vein and full of himself and no matter how you cut the film Mitchell does do some pretty villainous things and has some pretty strong comments throughout the film.

When Suzie and I saw the film she came away in support of Wiebe but for some reason I came away wanting to see Mitchell continue to hold the record.  I guess there's something to seeing a familiar face in a position and being comfortable with that.  Also, I think Wiebe comes off as a bit of a whiner.  Now, the supporters of retro gaming are ridiculous to a hilarious degree.  One of them is constantly calling Mitchell on the phone to give him updates on the progress of a game.  Either way after the film, the battle for the record still rages between these to and that's probably the best part.

The King of Kong isn't as much about videogaming specifically, it's about evolution, it's about people and the quirky personalities surrounding a shared obsession.  There's definitely a heavily bias in the film but based on the two main characters I can see why it would be easy to build the bias.  Fans of character studies, fans of videogaming, and fans of documentaries in general will find something to like about this quirky little film.

8.5/10

-Stephen Lackey