The King of Kong

As far as setting up clear protagonist/antagonist rivalry, The King of Kong (2007) strives to make this the main prerogative of the film from the get-go. We meet Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, both avid gamers, specifically Donkey Kong, and in many ways, prototypes of the all-American man. However, where they differ, as the director makes evident, is that the former is the marginally successful everyman with the marginal wife, job, and kids who's just trying to do something better than everyone else for once in his marginal life. Whereas the latter is the deceptively enterprising, suspiciously successful entrepreneur of hot sauce whose suspiciously chesty and bronzed wife signifies his showman tendencies (not to mention his 3 letter handle is "USA"). From the beginning the disparities between the two are highlighted, underlined, circled, and thrown in our faces, a rivalry which was later said to be partially constructed for entertainment purposes. However, making Billy Mitchell seem like a complete douchclaw doesn't take a lot of effort. His haughty remarks about gaming integrity (of which he speaks but does not subscribe) and obnoxious patriotism along with his carefully coiffed business mullet separate him from any sort of coolness.

The main squabble of the film revolves around which man has the highest Donkey Kong score accepted and recorded by Twin Galaxies, an Iowa-based gaming organization founded by Walter Day, also a main character in the film. In the 80s Billy Mitchell had set the world record for highest score, but the humble house husband Steve Wiebe submitted a video some 20-odd years later breaking the self-assured Mitchell's record. Teen gossip drama ensues as we see a clash of egos and ethics. For certain reasons Wiebe's video score isn't officially accepted so he performs for an audience and still beats Mitchell's score. This is followed by a backhanded upset when Mitchell mails a video to Walter Day whereby he beats Wiebe's high score, all, of course, over-dramatized for the camera.

Dramatized or not, the most interesting aspect of the film was the implicit politics in the gaming world and how people ally or separate themselves from certain individuals. Mainly, the small ring of flunkies Mitchell used to keep tabs on Wiebe throughout the entire film, from lurking over his shoulder while he was playing to sneaking into his garage to dismantle his DK machine. Also, Wiebe's association with fellow gamer, Mr. Awesome, was enough to stigmatize his legitimacy at breaking the DK world record. It all seemed like high school pettiness, like they were still stuck in 1982. However, despite everything, the final moment of the film informs us that Steve Wiebe had the all-time high score as of 2007.

4 out of 5 DK kill screens