The King of Kong

I found myself heavily engaged with the documentary ‘The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters’ when I watched it yesterday. It tells the story of two rivals, Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe in their quest to top one another in the process of obtaining the world record for the highest ever recorded score in Donkey Kong.

The film may seem shallow and a bit incomplete when judging from the premise, but on the contrary, it is not. I found a film so compelling and complete with human emotion ranging from misery to triumph. The only thing that bothered me was perhaps the documentary’s desperate need for a villain. I’m pretty sure that Wiebe is a real good guy, but it seems to be that his rival Mitchell was unfairly portrayed. Well, I don’t know, maybe he really is an ass in real life.

Anyway, a film that chronicles human perseverance is always a good thing, and I’m sure lots of people will fall in love with this movie the same way I did too.