Review of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) by Shanna U — 06 Jan 2012

I'm going to use this film as one of my weapons from now on when the documentary is discredited as a genre that can provide entertainment. One would assume that a prerequisite for enjoying a non-fiction film would be an inherent interest in the subject going in to watching the film.

"The King of Kong" blows that theory all to hell. I couldn't possibly care less about Donkey Kong, or any other video game for that matter. And yet I was sucked in to this story of Good (Steve Wiebe) vs.

Evil (Billy Mitchell). Yeah, I am sure that director Seth Gordon shaped his 350 hours of footage to maximize the good guy/bad guy effect, but I'm left with the feeling that if I saw Mitchell on the street, I'd hate him anyway.

And I probably wouldn't even notice Wiebe, who is a sort of real-life Charlie Brown. This is a fantastic, entertaining documentary whose themes transcend its nerdy premise...a movie about goals and lies and integrity and determination and passion and a touch of madness.

And as a bonus, we are witness to one of the most fantastic mullets ever put to film. This one is worth the 90 minutes of your time needed to experience it!