Movie review: King of Kong
In honor of Steve Wiebe’s attempt to break the “Donkey Kong” record at E3 yesterday, I’m posting my Sept. 2007 review of “King of Kong,” which ran in The Oklahoman.
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It’s “Rocky” for the video game set in “King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” one of the best documentaries of the year.
Director Seth Gordon follows science teacher Steve Wiebe’s attempts to become the world champion of “Donkey Kong.”
After being laid off from Boeing, Wiebe spends hours in his garage, working on his “Donkey Kong” game. He saw the world record on the Web site of Twin Galaxies, Walter Day’s video game records clearinghouse, and figured he could beat it.
During Wiebe’s world-record run, taped for posterity from his basement, you can hear his son yelling, “Dad! Stop playing ‘Donkey Kong’!”
Unfortunately for Wiebe, there’s no pause button on the 1980s “Donkey Kong” console. Still, Wiebe manages to beat the record and send in his tape with a new world-record score. End of story? Not even close.
Billy Mitchell, named gamer of the century in 1999 and a longtime record holder on “Donkey Kong,” calls Wiebe’s accomplishment into question. Mitchell, called a Jedi of video gaming, comes off more like a Sith in “King of Kong.” Every move Wiebe makes to break the record or have his record legitimized is countered by Mitchell, who, like a world-caliber video gamer, seems to be thinking three or four moves ahead.
Mitchell, now a hot-sauce mogul, set the “Donkey Kong” record in 1983 and more recently played the world’s first “perfect game” of “Pac-Man.” He’s one of the video game establishment’s brightest stars, while Wiebe is an outsider.
Wiebe’s long-suffering wife goes along with his plans to break the record at a live video gaming event, to be the “Donkey Kong” record holder submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Wiebe’s slightly irrational quest is clever, funny, engaging and more universal than it might seem.
- Matthew Price
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