The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

May 23, 2009

Netflix Stream, Seattle, WA

**** / ****

By Scott Muoio

Modern society does not lack for world champions. From soccer to basketball, spelling to pogo stick jumping, holding one’s breath under water to devouring hot dogs in less than ten minutes, if there is a way to score, judge, or time an act of human performance there is an award (or several) for the best of the best. Therefore it should come as no surprise that classic 1980s video games not only have recognized world champions but also “scores” of followers obsessed with the scene. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is the story of two very different, fascinating men whose claims as the Donkey Kong world champion come to head in spectacular fashion. With cameras rolling, nerds hootin’, hollerin’, and undermining each other’s antics, and more real melodrama than a soap opera and a daytime talk show combined, one couldn’t ask for a more perversely entertaining bit of silliness.

The documentary begins with a muddled twenty-minute opening that presents a brief history of competitive classic video gaming. Through it we are introduced to its former greats, modern champions, and a smattering of wannabes left in the wake. In particular, we meet three men whose intertwined lives keep us on the edge of our seats for the next hour.

In one corner is Billy Mitchell, the reigning Donkey Kong champion and the poster boy for classic gaming. A former teen video game champion Mitchell has grown into exactly what one might expect: an arrogant, silly-looking, and proudly successful 40-something owner of a Florida restaurant and hot sauce company. In real life I imagine Mitchell to be just another forgettable dork, but in the documentary he is portrayed as exactly what he relentlessly claims he is not: a “sunuvagun.” With cocky aloofness and a penchant for absurd melodrama (he occasionally sends his high scores to live events via VHS tape proxy and may or may not be avoiding a head-to-head match-up with his top competitor) you’ve got a cinematic villain that rivals Hal 9000 and Darth Vader, only with a sillier helmet (his mullet).

In the other corner is Steve Wiebe, an everyman from Washington state who loses his job but somehow finds solace and redemption by mastering a ratty Donkey Kong arcade machine in his garage. After Wiebe submits his record-breaking score to the powers that be (a seemingly 3-man record keeping organization known as Twin Galaxies) a domino effect occurs that has all the intrigue, absurdity, and drama of a perfectly written cinematic event.

Refereeing their antics is Walter Day, a sort-of regular guy who keeps track of and authenticates video game records because, well, no one else seems to do it.

Together, the triumvirate engages in a passive-aggressive tug-of-war that couldn’t possibly be more ludicrous if it were scripted.

Instead of spoiling the drama with the details suffice it to write every time Wiebe submits a score, shows up in public to play head-to-head, or attempts in any way to make contact with Mitchell he is either completely avoided, his integrity publicly questioned, or he is unfairly manipulated into near emotional submission by a miniature army of Mitchell’s puppet henchmen. All the while Wiebe plays by every rule the nit-picky Day forces upon him egregiously flying across the country numerous times for live sanctioned events and doing everything save leaping through flaming hoops just to prove his obvious Donkey Kong prowess.

Maybe the story is slightly fabricated but who cares? This is serious entertainment with every hallmark of superb storytelling: a great hero, a perfect villain, oodles of hilarious minor characters that couldn’t be more entertaining if they were cast, astounding plot turns, and even a pair of training montages set to The Karate Kid’s “You’re the Best Around” and Rocky III’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Where other films are lame in their clichés The King of Kong is exactly the type of entertainment that earns them 100%. And I’ll be damned if a better story could be made about Donkey Kong than what is achieved with The King of Kong.

It may not sound like a great idea for a movie but take my word for it: The King of Kong is tremendously entertaining and one of the best films of 2007.

Director: Seth Gordon

Producer: Ed Cunningham, Luis Lopez, J. Clay Tweel, Beau Bauman, Ross Tuttle

Starring: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, Walter Day

Original Music: Craig Richey

Cinematographer: Ross Tuttle

Editor: Jim Bruce, J. Clay Tweel