Certificate: 15 (strong language). Running Time: 118 mins. UK Distributor: Apple TV+
WHO’S IN IT?
Taron Egerton, Toby Jones, Nikita Yefremov, Roger Allam, Anthony Boyle, Togo Igawa, Ken Yamamura, Ben Miles, Matthew Marsh, Rick Yune, Oleg Stefan, Ayane Nagabuchi
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Jon S. Baird (director), Noah Pink (writer), Gillian Berrie, Len Blavatnik, Gregor Cameron, Claudia Schiffer and Matthew Vaughn (producers), Lorne Balfe (composer), Alwin H. Küchler (cinematographer), Colin Goudie, Ben Mills and Martin Walsh (editors)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
In 1988, American video game designer Henk Rogers (Egerton) discovers the Soviet-backed game Tetris…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON TETRIS?
Given Hollywood’s reputation for turning any and every IP into some form of visual entertainment, it’s honestly surprising that it’s taken them this long to make a movie about Tetris, the classic arcade game that’s as simple as buttons – you just align falling puzzle pieces into a complete row – and equally as addictive.
But rather than frame an entire narrative around that singular concept, the makers of this film have instead opted for the far more interesting, and surprisingly more intense, real-life story behind the game itself, which is filled with international politics, corporate corruption, thuggish brutality, and enough 80s aesthetic to rival Stranger Things. On top of that, though, it’s an exciting, fast-paced thrill ride that should invigorate audiences as much as they would be when they’re playing an actual game of Tetris.
Set in 1988, we first meet struggling video game designer Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), the Holland-born American who now resides in Tokyo with his family, at a convention in Las Vegas where, by chance, he stumbles upon the titular game and becomes enamoured with it. Both he and we quickly learn the complex backstory behind it: the game was designed by Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov), a Russian computer engineer whose creation quickly became popular in the USSR, but the Soviet government – which, at this point in history, is on the brink of collapse – have crafted loopholes upon loopholes to prevent the rights from being distributed across the world.
Rogers, seeking to acquire Tetris for Nintendo so that they may release it with their revolutionary new Game Boy device, travels to Moscow to negotiate with an exceptionally protective Russian government. However, he has competition in the form of media tycoon Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and his arrogant son Kevin (Anthony Boyle), who are willing to play dirty with corrupt KGB agents and their own finances in order to claim the game for themselves. Not only that, but Rogers must also try and win over a reluctant Alexey, who is convinced that his game in the hands of the Capitalist West would be no better than if it were to stay with the Communist East.
From the word “go”, the film establishes a speedy pace that quickly gives us everything we need to know within minutes, from the core exposition to the establishment of these central characters, before plopping the viewer right into the thick of it. This can relegate some other key components, such as emotional hooks or even some important backstory, to the wings or even off-stage entirely, but director Jon S. Baird (previously of Filth and Stan and Ollie) and writer Noah Pink (the creator of anthology biopic series Genius) use their time as wisely as they can to make their film an engaging experience.
On Baird’s end, he brings a stylish flair that embraces the 8-bit video game aesthetics that dominated the imaginations of gamers during that late-80s period, and plays around with it by filtering over numerous establishing shots, character introductions, and even over in-pursuit vehicles during a late car chase sequence. Meanwhile, Pink brings a lively sensibility to his dialogue, not unlike how Aaron Sorkin did for David Fincher’s The Social Network (which is said to be a core influence on this film), but he also gives his protagonists a likeable simplicity while also making the stakes feel very apparent.
Egerton’s Henk, for example, has put his entire livelihood on the line so that he can win the bank’s trust, which would leave him and his family without a home or a business should his negotiations result in failure. You can feel in his increasingly frustrated voice, exemplified by a winning lead turn by Taron Egerton, that he is fighting for his life when it comes to securing a video game about falling blocks, and because the character is established well enough you do want him to succeed over the rather caricaturist villains.
Said antagonists are delightfully exaggerated in a movie that is already a heightened depiction of events, but sometimes they threaten to steer the movie into full-on camp. Aside from the Maxwells – from Anthony Boyle’s foppish Kevin to Roger Allam in a cartoonish make-up and fat-suit combo that makes Scott Adkins in John Wick: Chapter 4 look normal – you have typically nasty KGB agents with slicked-back hair that talk in threatening hypotheticals and are so corrupt that morals are a foreign concept to them. They’re entertainingly performed under Baird’s playful execution, but on paper they’re not the most fleshed-out villains beyond simply being greedy and power-hungry, so they’re not as compelling or even as threatening a force as they could have been.
More could also have been done to flesh out the relationship between Henk Rogers and Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov, because although you certainly do see their minds aligning in scenes where they genuinely do bond, some of the heartfelt moments between them later on feel a bit too false, since the movie hasn’t focused on them enough together to warrant such incidents.
However, Tetris makes up for its flaws with a heavy dose of gripping rollercoaster entertainment which makes it incredibly fun to watch. Sure, you can put it down for not being entirely true to real life (call me crazy, but I don’t think that car chase I mentioned earlier actually happened), but as a movie designed to give audiences a good time, historical accuracy shouldn’t matter so long as you’re enjoying what’s been crafted, and there’s plenty to enjoy from the exaggerated performances to the retro style to even Lorne Balfe’s synth-heavy musical score.
It’s no Social Network, and yet it was never supposed to be; Tetris is its livelier and much more playful cousin, free of sophistication or pretension, and just wants to have as much fun with telling this wild and engaging story as it possibly can.
Now I want to know if there’s some wild story behind Duck Hunt, or even Q*bert, that could be made into another exciting video game origin movie.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Tetris is an entertaining fast-paced thriller that charts the complex origins and political manoeuvring behind the acquisition of the titular video game, and is filled with 8-bit style and winning performances that have plenty of likability, which helps overcome the overly-exaggerated depiction of events and caricaturist villains.
