It seems bizarre to say given the subject matter, but this is arguably the best documentary I’ve seen in recent memory. What is it about? Well here’s where you’ll scoff. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is about nothing less than the exciting world of competitive video gaming. But of course we’re not taking about these Korean or Japanese tournaments were youngins test their grit against each other on the latest hit from X-Box 360, we’re talking old school. Classic video game hits like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Q-Bert.
It all starts with an outfit call Twin Galaxies, which tracks and ranks the top scorers for a whole range of video games and video game systems, like hot sauce mogul Billy Mitchell who holds the record for the highest score in arcade Donkey Kong. Mitchell, a wunderkind well-known since gaming was in its infancy, has held a number of records over the years, but the DK is his last to fall. Enter Seattle-based science teacher Steve Wiebe, practicing in his garage, he ends up beating Mitchell’s record complete with videotaped evidence. Unfortunately, Wiebe’s score is called into question, which results in a cross-country challenge between Mitchell the champion and Wiebe the upstart to prove which one of them is the best of the best.
The competition between these two men is incredible engrossing which is surprising given that were taking about a rather passive spectator sport. Actually, that’s not the interesting thing, I was utterly fascinated by the few scenes where the camera of director Seth Gordon follows Wiebe as he trains, yes trains, for competitive Donkey Kong. Like the way a football coach draws out plays for a team to execute on the field, we see notebooks that Wiebe has filled with drawn duplications of game level layouts and we see him draw attack plans on the screen of his machine with a dry erase marker. Even being something of a casual gamer myself, such dedication and strategizing for a video game was unusual to me.
But even watching these little insights of strategies doesn’t compare to the political mind games involved in Wiebe’s journey to be recognized as numero uno. You read that right; there are politics in the struggle to be named the best at Donkey Kong. Primarily, the struggle between Twin Galaxies and certain members of the gaming community who seem to feel that they’ve monopolized the market on competitive gaming and that it’s in their self-interest to protect Billy Mitchell’s record.
Of course, Wiebe had friendly contact with these people, which when found out called his score into question by the people at Twin Galaxies. The film becomes about Wiebe trying to prove himself to the detractors and his Herculean-like efforts to get recognition for his achievement. At stake is more than just bragging rights, but the initial entry into the Guinness Book of World Records gaming section. The interesting thing though is that the higher the stakes, the more Wiebe seems to be in it for himself and less is the matter about beating Mitchell.
This is probably a good thing given the fact that Mitchell seems to avoid any and all attempts to meet Wiebe and compete against him head-to-head. I’ll be the first to admit that Gordon kind of skewers his narrative in favour of Wiebe, it’s hard for Mitchell to not look bad when we see Wiebe’s solidarity attempts to clear his own name of wrongdoing up close and personal. The editing makes Mitchell look a little distant and a lot elitist; the closest the two men come to meeting makes Mitchell come off as cold. One can’t help but feel if Gordon’s editing was influenced by his identification with Wiebe and disappointment with Mitchell for ditching the glove thrown down.
The compelling narrative of The King of Kong is why it is such a wonder to watch. It’s more than just a movie about guys that play kids games, but it portrays arcade games as tests of endurance and dexterity. As the popularity of video games continues to increase, people are trying to seek positive value in them. Surprisingly, King of Kong illustrates this perfectly, beyond the politics of scoring, the film is about people who are undertaking serious challenges and testing themselves to the best of their ability. Not bad for a barrel throwing gorilla and a determined plumber.
