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Director: Seth Gordon

Starring: Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe, Robert Mruzek, Roy Shildt, Adam Wood,

The King Of Kong is a surprisingly engrossing documentary about the battle between two very different men, to be recognized as the world’s greatest Donkey Kong player (if you don’t know what Donkey Kong is, then skip the rest of the review, this film is not for you). Director Seth Gordon doesn’t appear on film, but has created an entertaining feature packed with quirky characters that fill the seriously competitive video game world.

Billy Mitchell is introduced at the beginning of this documentary as the undisputed, untouchable, and barely mortal master of Donkey Kong, an incredibly difficult and frustrating game that has a little Mario character dodging barrels on his way to rescue a kidnapped princess. Mario’s world seems to have a lot of missing princesses. Odd. Anyway, introduced next is Steve Wiebe, frustrated musician, teacher, and father, who wants to usurp Billy the Kong emperor, and take the high score record, assuring his legacy for all time. We are treated to interviews with the two competitors, their families, friends, and other video game experts, as the story keeps us in suspense about who will emerge as the one and only King of Kong.

I never liked Donkey Kong much, preferring more violent and ‘realistic’ games like Punchout and Spyhunter, and I found the idea of a documentary about a bunch of guys begging for wedgies, and well-acquainted with the inside of a closed locker, to hold little interest for me. I was wrong (no need to alert the media. Its not that unusual). This is a similar idea to films like Spellbound (teenagers vying for the national spelling title) and Word Wars (Scrabble), but is more appealing than both. If this review has peaked your interest, then you are likely to enjoy this journey into a world where any score less than a million just isn’t good enough.

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