Reception
The film was met with critical acclaim from critics. As of December 7, 2007, the film had an average score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 97% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 92 reviews.
Robert Wilonsky of the Village Voice called the film a "miniature masterpiece" and in August 2007 said it was " favorite movie of the year" up to that point. Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat gave the film 5 stars and said "It’s not just one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen, it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Period." Keith Phipps of The Onion AV Club gave the film an "A-" and said at one point it "turns into a film about what it takes to make it in America." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, wondering "Who would have guessed that a documentary about gamers obsessed with scoring a world record at Donkey Kong would not only be roaringly funny but serve as a metaphor for the decline of Western civilization?" Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times similarly gave the film 3 stars and called it "a documentary that is beyond strange."
Among critics who gave the film negative reviews, Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post said "Is there anything more tiresome than watching people play video games?" and "The competition is so vicious because the stakes are so low." Stephen Garrett of Time Out New York called it "moderately entertaining and ultimately kind of pathetic" and said that the early-1980s arcade subculture is explored in greater depth in the documentary Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade.
Film critic Richard Roeper stated that the film "deserves an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary" in 2007 on At The Movies. The North Texas Film Critics Association named it Best Documentary for 2007. The Boston Society of Film Critics named it the runner-up for Best Documentary Feature of 2007. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature of 2007 by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The film was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature by the Chicago Film Critics Association, but lost to Sicko.
Read more about this topic: The King Of Kong
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