Even more silly than making a documentary about people dressing up as superheroes, is a documentary about people obsessed with breaking the world record on the 1980's arcade game, Donkey Kong.


King Of Kong follows the misadventures Steve Wiebe, a small town family man, who bought a Donkey Kong arcade game to put in his garage. As he gets better and better, he realizes he might just break the world record set by Billy Mitchell in 1982. He starts video taping his games to capture his record-breaking game, and eventually does. He sends the tape in to be reviewed, and this is where the journey begins….


Nothing can prepare Steve for the odd, and twisted world of Donkey Kong competitors, he’s an unwelcome newcomer in an almost mafia-style universe lead by referee, Walter Day and former champion and hot sauce baron, Billy Mitchell. Along the way, Walter, Billy (who, by the way, also set the world’s record for Biggest Douche Bag) and their goons do whatever they can to undermine Steve’s accomplishments. It’s so astonishing to watch how seriously these people take this stupid game, and you can’t help but find yourself emotionally wrapped up in the adventure, no matter how absurd it gets.


]The movie is so silly, so ridiculous, and so fun. You can’t imagine how high the stakes will be (or seem) until you see the movie. As I watched, I thought to myself, you can’t make this stuff up! And if you did it wouldn’t be half as interesting. So get some friends and some beer together, and prepare for one of the most exciting sports movies since Rocky.

Favorite Quote: "No matter what I say, it draws controversy. It's sort of like the abortion issue." –Billy Mitchell

Ryan’s Rating: A-

Links
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Netflix
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