The King of Kong

Starring: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, Walter Day

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/

This review contains minor spoilers.

I am surprised at how long it has taken me to finally sit down and watch this movie. Being an avid gamer, getting a degree in Game Development and aiming to work in the game industry, you would think I would have rushed to see this at the first possible moment. I think what happened was I actually knew too much – I am perhaps too entrenched in the gaming lifestyle. I knew the story, I knew the players and I am extremely familiar with the games, and so – in an odd way – I almost felt like I had already seen the movie. It went from a film I was excited to see, to a film I knew I would watch eventually – it was no longer high on my list. It is a shame too, since the film is highly entertaining.

The one person – in my mind – that can make or break a documentary, is the Editor. Sure the Director is important, and the subject matter has to be at least somewhat intriguing, but the Editor has the most the ability to push a normal documentary into something amazing. King of Kong was so well edited that it flowed and peaked just like a normal feature film. The right shots were put in just the right spots in order to achieve the desired emotions and story development. And while I think the film could have been a lot better, the editing saved it from being too mundane.

The thing that I most often hear about this film was that the characters seem so ridiculous that it is hard to believe they are real people. Billy Mitchell is the embodiment of this phenomenon. He is a jerk of incredible proportions with an ego to match, and he is so overly condescending that you almost find yourself laughing at everything he does and says just because it is so absurd. On the other hand Steve Wiebe is incredibly down on his luck, extremely nice and wants so badly to just get some recognition that he seems almost like a charicature. He has his faults and vices but in the end is is very likeable and you can’t help but feel glad when something actually goes his way.

I think the parts I enjoyed most were when someone was describing donkey kong strategy, and the problems people face on the different levels. It is extremely interesting to see the well thought out methods people use to get around each stage. So I definetly enjoyed the film; it had its slow moments but overall it was entertaining and interesting. I would recommend it to documentary fans, anyone interested in gaming, or just people who like a good fall and redemption story.

~ by Hobbes on June 24, 2008.