With movies being so subjective, I tend not to review them on this site but there is a documentary out there that simply is begging for me to spread the word.  I had read very positive reviews about The King of Kong but with my Netflix queue being so full of other movies I want to see, documentaries as of late have gotten the brushoff.   Earlier this week I decided to check it out via the Netflix Viewer (available for a small portion of their catalog) and after 5 minutes I was hooked.

Keep in mind I’m not into video games much at all so the fact that this documentary grabbed my attention speaks volumes to the editing of the piece and the subjects in it.  The gist of the story is that there is an official group that reviews and recognizes world record scores for video games.  If the record-setting game isn’t played in a sanctioned tournament, there must be video evidence of the entire game.

Billy Mitchell was the world record holder for the Donkey Kong game for years.  A few years ago Steve Wiebe broke the record and the resulting mess that ensued from warring factions within the video gamer world made it as fascinating a documentary as I’ve seen.  Steve's video of him breaking the record at home has audio in the background of his son on the toilet asking his dad to wipe his bottom.  Several hundred thousand Donkey Kong points later, the kids is still asking Steve to wipe him.

A majority of this fascination revolves around this Billy Mitchell character.  I’ve never seen someone with as large a 'God complex' as he has, combined with a refusal to acknowledge that someone might actually be better than him at a particular task.  He honestly might be the most reviled character I’ve seen in a documentary in recent memory.  In addition to his extreme arrogance, he has a group of the most stereotypical sycophants who do his bidding at his behest.  Billy never appears in public to confront Steve in a video game battle, yet he constantly has this one guy, Brian Kuh, keep him informed constantly of Steve’s progress and also the reaction of the people watching him.  Brian is constantly stroking Billy’s ego on the phone, almost to the point where it seems unbelievable.

I won’t dig deeper into the film but you have to see it to believe it.  I would be very surprised, after you watch it, that you didn’t a) absolutely detest Billy Mitchell and everything he stands for and b) root like hell for Steve Wiebe.

If you use Netflix, go to your Queue and click on Play in the Watch Instantly column.