The King of Kong is about Billy Mitchell, the greatest Donkey Kong player ever. He holds the world record in the old school arcade game since 1982, with a score over 800,000. His crown has gone basically unchallenged for over 20 years until Steve Wiebe, a middle school science teachers, buys a Donkey Kong game and attempts to beat the high score in his garage.

Billy is a mullet toting hot sauce mogul in Florida that is ridiculously arrogant about his top gaming skills. This guy thinks is he SO cool and apparently a bunch of other video game nerds think so too. They interview some of these geeks and they just gush all about him. He even has a couple of cronies that try and keep other gamers down by doing his bidding. It’s quite unbelievable to watch. They’re just so clueless about the fact that it’s just a video game! At first, I was in awe that these people were actually serious about this, which just made it all the more hilarious. It’s like a cross between Trekkies and American Movie.

Then there’s Steve, just a regular everyday guy who just decided one day to beat the top score. He has his challenges along the way, most due to Billy’s cronies I mentioned earlier, but he flies all over the country to play live and try to beat the score.

This movie is all-around great. Somehow the filmmakers achieved something I wouldn’t think was possible: they actually got me excited about this silly little video game contest. With quick cuts and fast music, they actually accomplished excitement and anticipation. You really start to care about this thing. And it was really funny too, mostly because of the aforementioned nerds who are all into these gaming contest like it’s life or death, but also because of the 80’s champion music used in the movie. During one scene they played the song “You’re the Best,” probably best known from the tournament montage from The Karate Kid. So it was funny and it got you excited at the same time. Very clever.

I was clearly hoping Steve would win, not just because of his underdog status, but also to knock Billy down from his Nintendo high horse. Steve wasn’t previously a serious gamer and from what they show, not really into games before this at all. He’s the everyday guy just trying to make it.

I just had a friend say to me that that the people in the movie were like the characters in a Christopher Guest movie (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show) only real. And you know, she was right. This movie is one to watch over and over. It’s one I’m going to add to my collection. Be sure and check this one out.

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