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DVD Sunday: The King of Kong

Donkey Kong kill screen coming up everybody - By Morgan, Jun 29, 08

Rarely do you see a more powerful sight than a 40-year-old man openly weeping in an arcade in rural New Hampshire. With tears of frustration streaming down his face, Steve Wiebe, one of the greatest Donkey Kong players in the world, pours his heart out into the camera after learning that his arch nemesis Billy Mitchell had just posted a new Donkey Kong world record.

Directed by Seth Gordan, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) is a documentary of the surprisingly treacherous and insidious world of classic video gaming. The film focuses on the epic rivalry of two "superstar gamers," Mitchell and Wiebe as champion and challenger, with their battlefield being the pixelated ramps, ladders, elevators of the classic Nintendo arcade game Donkey Kong. With a supporting cast of colorful nerds, social outcasts, and assorted wierdos and basement dwellers, The King of Kong ends up being nothing less than a universal tale of good versus evil, triumph of the will, and what it takes to be a champion.

Originating as a look into the super geeky world of classic video gaming, The King of Kong begins by setting the scene and introducing the community of classic gamers, all competing for the all-time high scores on classic '70s arcade games like Centipede, Missile Command, Q-bert, Galaga, Pac Man, and, of course, the widow maker Donkey Kong. A classic portrait of Americana, the documentary depicts a sub-culture that time forgot, ineffably living on today in rural American arcades, parents' basements, and garages throughout the fly-over states.

But from amongst this community, the directors happened upon the story of Steve Wiebe. An outcast even among the cabal of pro gaming nerds, Wiebe is the quintessential portrait of the underdog -- a man who has "come up short on a lot of things in his life," in the words of his wife. After being laid off from his job, Wiebe happens upon the Donkey Kong record of Billy Mitchell, set way back in 1982, and believed to be unbeatable. Taking it upon himself to defeat the "Gamer of the Century," Wiebe sets out in pursuit of the all-time Donkey Kong record.

Basically, The King of Kong is a real life Ben Stiller movie, replete with a lovable loser protagonist in the every-man Steve Wiebe, and a comically despotic, mulleted villain, Billy Mitchell. The King of Kong is so engrossing -- the nerdiness so profoundly perfect, the dorkiness so powerfully arresting -- one can't believe it hasn't been scripted. Beyond the actual video gaming, the essential characters of the players are laid bare, and it's impossible not to become wholly invested in their chosen obsession.

On finding the movie: Although The King Of Kong is new on DVD, it probably won't be filed in the "New Releases" section because it's a documentary. Check the documentary/Euro film rack at your local if they have one.

Grade: A-

Complementary Sherpas Order: This has pizza written all over it. Cheap pizza. And lots of it.

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