Atop a steel girder 25 meters high, the 800 pound gorilla looked down at Mario and reached for a nearby barrel. Grunting and snarling, the huge ape threw the barrel at Mario, bared his teeth, then pounded his chest with hairy fists the size of coconuts.

“Help!â€? Pauline screamed repeatedly, steadying herself as she eyed the precarious drop below her.

The iron hoops and wooden staves of the barrel shattered into smithereens, lighting a fire in a nearby oil drum. The next barrels didn’t shatter but gained momentum as they came rolling down the girders and toward our stalwart hero. The husky Italian plumber ran full speed toward a speeding barrel. He jumped at the last moment, cleared the barrel, and reached for a suspended sledgehammer.

Mario held the big metal head of the sledgehammer high in the air and prepared for impact as six more barrels came rolling toward him.