Tetris: Film Review
I was baffled when the Tetris movie was announced because I had no idea what story it would tell – needless to say, I was totally unaware of the unbelievable true tale behind the ’80s puzzle game.
The story follows video game developer and businessman Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), who discovers Tetris at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in 1988. He knows it will be a hit but the game is caught up in a tangled web of rights between him, Robert Stein (Toby Jones), Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and his son Kevin (Anthony Boyle). Rogers makes the risky decision to go to Russia amid the Cold War to meet the inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) and fight for the right to sell Tetris around the world.
I’ll admit, it doesn’t sound that exciting – and to start with, it isn’t! It takes a while to get going and I had trouble following who owned what rights. I didn’t realise that game rights were broken down into computer, video game, arcade and handheld rights (as of the ’80s) and the licensing agreements were divided into regions. Then there’s the added issue of the original rights owner (Stein) passing them onto somebody else (the Maxwells) and then giving a slice to Rogers. I was never bored but I had a hard time keeping up.
The last hour really makes up for the slow and confusing beginning. It strays away from the biographical drama and goes full thriller – there are car chases, tense showdowns, double-crossing agents and a dash to the airport. I’m sure most of these moments are fictional and added purely for drama’s sake but I’m glad about that because it needed more stakes and energy. The last hour is really exciting and it all culminates in a nail-biting finale.
There are also some excellent visual flourishes that pay homage to the video game – 8-bit graphics are used to introduce different locations and come into play in a big way during the car chase. It looked very cool! But it’s not just the visuals – you can hear 8-bit music throughout the film and there is an excellent version of Holding Out For a Hero at a pivotal moment too.
You all know I love Egerton and this film is no exception. He brings the charm any entrepreneur needs and has to use his sales skills and his love of the game to seal the deal. Efremov was also excellent as Pajitnov, who fears what the Russians will do to him and his family for working with Americans.
I wasn’t sure about Tetris at first but I enjoyed it by the end. A thrilling biographical drama!
On Apple TV+ from Friday 31st March