Review of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) by Megan B — 03 Nov 2009

This documentary of a video game world and rivalry you never knew existed is so much fun that you wonder how much of a documentary can it be. Can all this tension and hostility be real? After watching the movie, doing research and listening to the audio commentary the answer is yes and no.

The film sways you very easily to side with the Donkey Kong challenger but some of this may come from the fact that the filmmaker had a mutual friend with Steve Webie. Also some of the footage is edited and resequenced to add conflict and pressure between the competitors Billy and Steve.

The one down side is that the film only focuses on Donkey Kong and kind of excludes all of the other classic games and those competing to try to hit the high score. I wished they had touched on some of the surrounding stories but I guess keeping on the main plot makes sense too.

One of the best parts pf this film is that it is filled with colorful characters that really keep it alive. It is an interesting and entertaining and even makes you feel a little nerdy yourself. So go pick up this movieâ?¦and maybe Mrs.

Pac-Man too.