Review of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) by Juan C — 05 Feb 2011

As a film, The King of Kong is quite enthralling. It gives great insight into a minor subculture and places it characters into specific archetypes. Nothing beats a story of good vs. evil with conspiracies thrown in.

Billy Mitchell creates a fantastic villain, full of zingers and with style aplenty. Add in a manipulative soundtrack referencing Rocky and it is hard not to feel compelled to pull for Wiebe. The film also features a money shot that has few documentaries could match. The underlying horror is the way in which all families are neglected in the desire to achieve a record that few seem interested in.

From a reality point of view, it is amazing the tangled web of truth that the editing process causes. Just trying to understand the timeline is mind-boggling. Factor in the fact that Wiebe had held the record for three years and Billy Mitchell actually was not holder of the record until his videotape submission, and that changes the films dramatic edge quite considerably.

Subsequent events after the film ends are also fascinating. It would be interesting to see how the proposed feature film is attempted.