So in general this is a film bashing Twin Galaxies and Billy Mitchel and anyone who associates with them.
Spoilers within.
The story follows typical Hollywood formula. A villain is established, a hero is given a task. The hero seemingly beats the task but due to a technicalities doesn't win. And he never gives up.
This is the story of two men competing for the high score, world record of Donkey Kong. And you know, it is a damn good movie too.
This is an enjoyable story because it is a documentary. As a film of fiction it might be a little overdone but here because they are real people in real situations, you get to see the truth in the lies. It takes a single sided look at a situation where every card in the deck is stacked against our Hero. And he keeps winning despite being stopped at every turn. What it is is the triumph of the human spirit. It's a man who refuses to give up and keeps on trying to get the recognition he deserves. More than that, we see he is a good man. Sure he makes some decisions that aren't exactly heroic, like ignoring his kid during his record-breaking run, but he also does a tremendous amount of things to prove his worth. There are certain things you, the viewer, should keep an eye out for. Pay attention to Billy Mitchel. Every single thing he does is calculate asshole. No joke. Consider a scene where we just discussing what he does for a living, it is inter cut with footage of him talking about it at a store, but the key of what he's doing is taking jars of his hot sauce, and moving them to the front of the shelf and moving competitors behind it. He's being hyper competitive to a fault here. In another scene he is talking about what he puts his initials as in the games top score section. And he keeps saying if you are paying attention you'll know and as he does this he's stroking his tie. The camera man asks, is "TIE" and he responds that of course not, but instead you should think about what tie he was wearing the day before. He then reveals that it is "USA". And these are just the small moments there are bigger overtures of how villainous this man is, especially late in the film. Now when you have a character like that, which is to say a real live person who is actually like this, and then consider that during these events that Twin Galaxies, the group that is the video game equivalent of Guinness World Records, is supporting him without question to the point of holding a double standard for Billy as they do for our Hero, Steve. The film points some of this out, obviously, by including it, but does a decent job wanting the viewer to make leaps by showing footage rather than just flat out saying oh he's a terrible person.
I can't do anything BUT recommend this movie. It is absolutely an A-. Worth every second to watch it. And in general it has a better hold of character development, plot, and storytelling than most hollywood movies.
No comments:
Post a Comment