Now I’ve said before that documentaries aren't really my thing, but I have to admit this movie is great. It digs deep into the “gamer”
Subculture. The story revolves around a group of people who obsess on getting world records on classic arcade games.
Billy Mitchell is a gamer who holds the world record for Donkey Kong and has stayed unbeaten for 20 or so years. Billy, whose three letter initials for his records are U.S.A.
Then Steve Wiebe, who is challenging Billy’s world record, is a long time loser who has never broke out and conquered anything and is only skating by as mundane. Steve is a gentle man with a wife and kids who is just trying to break out and be something more than just average. Now the true charm of this film comes from the battle between the two gamers for the King of Kong.
We have Billy as the veteran gamer with everyone eating out of his hands and manipulating his way to the top of the gaming community and Wiebe is just a nice genuine guy who just wants to be recognized and feels alien to the close knit group. Steve is constantly having to prove himself and is mentally abused by Billy’s psychological games.
Now if you think that this movie is about two gamers going head to head your sadly mistaken. The real life emotion of Wiebe makes it easy to like him as the protagonist of the movie. The documentary is superb and has a grand feel with Billy fighting with Steve. It seems shockingly similar to the struggle between Mario and Donkey Kong, a game that the gamers so obsessively try to conquer. Score—9/10
Subculture. The story revolves around a group of people who obsess on getting world records on classic arcade games.
Billy Mitchell is a gamer who holds the world record for Donkey Kong and has stayed unbeaten for 20 or so years. Billy, whose three letter initials for his records are U.S.A.
Then Steve Wiebe, who is challenging Billy’s world record, is a long time loser who has never broke out and conquered anything and is only skating by as mundane. Steve is a gentle man with a wife and kids who is just trying to break out and be something more than just average. Now the true charm of this film comes from the battle between the two gamers for the King of Kong.
We have Billy as the veteran gamer with everyone eating out of his hands and manipulating his way to the top of the gaming community and Wiebe is just a nice genuine guy who just wants to be recognized and feels alien to the close knit group. Steve is constantly having to prove himself and is mentally abused by Billy’s psychological games.
Now if you think that this movie is about two gamers going head to head your sadly mistaken. The real life emotion of Wiebe makes it easy to like him as the protagonist of the movie. The documentary is superb and has a grand feel with Billy fighting with Steve. It seems shockingly similar to the struggle between Mario and Donkey Kong, a game that the gamers so obsessively try to conquer. Score—9/10
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