King of Kong Review
by Anthony Morris
|
Here's something you probably didn't know: those old video
games they used to have in arcades back in the 80s (and still do have
in fish'n chip shops) have world champions.
And if you're thinking "so what", then you need to see King of Kong,
a documentary in which the world champion at Donkey Kong (the game that
first gave the world Mario) turns out to be a bigger villain than Darth
Vader and Hannibal Lecter combined. Only without the
killing.
But Billy Mitchel does turn out to be a nasty
piece of work, even if at the beginning of things he seems like a
decent, if slightly too slick, businessman who, back in the 80s, got
the world's highest confirmed score on Donkey Kong. Then along comes
Steve Wiebe, a nice, decent guy who tends to let people walk over him a
little too much.
During a quiet period in his life, he got ahold
of a Donkey Kong machine, played it way, way too much, and ended up
getting so good he beat Mitchel's score. And that's where the trouble
starts, as Mitchel uses his clout with Twin Galaxies, the official
score keeping organisation, to throw obstacles in Wiebe's way much like
Donkey Kong himself throws barrels at Mario.
First it's not good
enough to send a video tape in of him beating Mitchel's score, he has
to do it in person - and meanwhile, Mitche is sending people around to
claim that Wiebe's Donkey Kong machine is rigged. Then when Wiebe
does show up at a tournament and gets a world-beating score, Mitchel's
henchman (yes, he has henchmen) brings out a tape of him getting an
even better score, and this tape is accepted no questions asked despite
looking more than a little dodgy.
Things only get worse from
there. Suffice to say that even if you know nothing about video
games and the men who play them, the human story here is amazing
stuff. It's the best "one man against the system" story you'll
see for a long time. 4 out
of 5 King of Kong
Australian release: 21st February, 2008
Cast: Mark Alpiger, Greg Bond, Walter Day
Director: Seth Gordon
Website: King of Kong
| 
