Raise Diamond Hands For 'Gamestop: Rise Of The Players'

You don't have to be a stock broker or gamer to enjoy this David and Goliath story about Gamestop's rising stock value and the people who always believed in its power.

Producer and director Jonah Tulis from 2020's "Console Wars" is back with an exciting addition to his video game documentaries called "Gamestop: Rise Of The Players."

Gamestop: Rise of the Players - Official Trailerwww.youtube.com

This is the origin story of the Gamestop stock market phenomenon that happened from 2019 through 2021. Yes, Gamestop – the video game retailer that gamers didn't visit for a decade before the documentary's events.

Featuring exclusive access to the original, every day people who started the investment uprising, viewers see a more human side to the drama past the Internet-shattering memes.

Interviews with each of the key players, including amateurs and professional financial analysts, are riveting. But there was a gaping hole in this documentary. If creators found Keith Gill, a.k.a. "Roaring Kitty" on the streaming platform Twitch, that would've added more depth and color to the already vibrant story. Gill is arguably one of the guys who drove power and influence into the Gamestop conversation under an alias on Reddit, so his missing presence is felt.

Bells And Whistles

It was wonderful to see 8-bit-inspired animation throughout the film that added color and transitions. The documentary is already a colorful piece, but when creators show a wealth of knowledge and research through all the memes, "diamond hand" emojis and media clips, it adds more excitement to the hype.

The film was a bit slow in its exposition, albeit valuable, as it clearly translates stock market terms to a general audience. And once the exposition is gone, the movie's pace turns into a wild ride going at a breakneck speed.

Honestly, it's a biased documentary because when they tried to interview some of the "Davids" in this story, they were painted in an extremely bad light. It's like they were grasping for straws during their interviews, and there wasn't any attempt to let the audiences think "OK, yeah I can understand where they're coming from." But boy does it tell a great underdog tale.

Score: 8/10

See "Gamestop: Rise of the Players" exclusively in theaters on Friday, January 28, 2022.

Follow the reporter, Samantha Incorvaia, on Twitter at @s_incorvaia.