Review of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) by Casey M — 12 May 2011

I don't usually give out a 100% score, and so far I have only given it to "The Dark Knight", which is my favorite movie, and "UP". So it may come as a surprise to see me give the elusive perfect score to a documentary. Let me be clear that I grade documentaries on a different scale then regular movies, which grades them on how informative and impactful they are, basically how much they grab my attention. "King of Kong" transcends the traditional thoughts about what a documentary is, and displays a very real human struggle that plays out much better than those in most Hollywood movies.

"King of Kong" tells the story of Steve Wiebe, a man trying to break the world record for Donkey Kong. He has to fight against the board in charge of the records and the reigning champion, D-Bag extraordinaire, Billy Mitchell. I have never before seen a documentary that has an actual villain. Most documentaries talk about a problem or display an issue, but this one has a clear protagonist and antagonist, which is what makes it so brilliant. Director Seth Gordon perfectly captures the human emotion to this film.

It may seem silly to make a documentary about an old video game, but it's really about one man's fight against injustice, no matter how outrageous that sounds, and also his struggle to finally be pleased with his own performance. We really get to know about the protagonist Steve, and what makes him tick, which is why we get so invested in his goal. Our hearts break when his does, and we cheer when he manages to do something great. On the flip side the antagonist Billy Mitchell is cold hearted and rude, and we end up hating him. Director Gordon has been accused of selectively editing the movie to make this come out, but this man is despicable, and no amount of editing would make Billy Mitchell a good guy.

I guess what really sets this documentary apart from others, and what gives it the perfect score is that it stops being a documentary, and starts becoming a movie. These are real people, and with some brilliant direction we see this to its fullest extent. We see the emotion, the battle, the self doubt, and the hope. This is a brilliant documentary that deserves your attention.