Plot: “Tetris” tells the unbelievable story of how one of the world’s most popular video games found its way to avid players around the globe. Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) discovers TETRIS in 1988, and then risks everything by traveling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) to bring the game to the masses. Based on a true story, “Tetris” is a Cold War–era thriller on steroids, with double-crossing villains, unlikely heroes and a nail-biting race to the finish.
Review: Tetris should have been a dumb movie. The sheer idea of making a film out of the worldwide best-selling video game instantly conjured images from Adam Sandler’s bizarre, awful 2015 movie, Pixels. When details came forward that the movie would instead chronicle the too crazy to not be true story of how the game made its way out of Soviet Russia and onto Nintendo’s GameBoy, I was not convinced it would work. Hell, even the trailer for the movie seemed almost like a Saturday Night Live spoof of big budget video game adaptations. Having recently debuted to massive buzz out of SXSW, Tetris is proving to be much more than another lackluster video game movie. Having seen Jon S. Baird’s film, I can say that not only is Tetris a lot of fun, but it a blast thanks to Taron Egerton’s unbridled enthusiasm as the man who helped bring the game to the world.
Tetris opens with Henk Rogers’s (Egerton) narration as he promotes his game, Go, at the 1988 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There, he stumbles upon a booth selling Tetris and purchases Japanese rights to the arcade and video games before striking a deal with Hiroshi Yamauchi, the head of Nintendo. Telling the story to his banker to procure a loan for several million dollars, the rat-a-tat pacing of this film gets off to a quick start. Only fifteen minutes into the movie, we have our complete setup for Henk Rogers as a salesman and passionate video game enthusiast, as well as the competition from Robert Stein (Toby Jones) on behalf of British company Mirrorsoft, led by Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and his son, Kevin (Anthony Boyle). When Henk learns of Nintendo’s plans to release a handheld device, he heads to Moscow to get the exclusive rights, setting off a chain of negotiations between the USSR and the competing licensees.
While starting with a sense of humor, Tetris is filled with nostalgia, including 80s fashion choices and an electronic score. But Tetris starts to change and transform into a tense thriller about halfway through. The trailers tease the protracted negotiations taking place in the Soviet Union. Still, the back and forth between multiple conference rooms and offices trades chuckles for suspense as the stakes begin to increase. Henk Rogers quickly goes from being a fish out of water, followed by KGB agents with slicked-back hair who speak in veiled threats to risking his life and video game designer Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov). Soon, the politics of the communist country come into direct conflict with the rising worth of Tetris with Henk at the center. With his personal ambitions and safety on the line, Henk never gives up on his goal. It helps that Taron Egerton, who brought so much warmth and enthusiasm to his roles in Kingsman and Rocketman, exudes so much as Henk that you cannot help but root for him to win.
There were obvious liberties taken with the story to add tension to the proceedings. Still, with this story being chronicled in books and documentaries, not many details appear to have been changed from the overall true story. Tetris takes on a tone that resembles David Fincher’s The Social Network in criticizing the political machinations that even allowed these events to transpire. There is no question about how critical this film is of the greed that Soviet leaders exhibited towards the final years of the USSR. While the portrayal of Robert Maxwell borders on mustache-twirling, Roger Allam makes him a dastardly villain along the lines of his performance in Speed Racer. Toby Jones is equally good in a minor role, but this is all a showcase for Taron Egerton, who continues to prove he can (and should) play every possible genre. With the ultimate mustache on his face and a twinkle in his eye, this is yet another great turn from the young actor.
Written by Noah Pink and directed by Jon S. Baird (Stonehouse), Tetris would have worked as a modest thriller but is accentuated by some creative conceits throughout the film. Lorne Balfe’s (His Dark Materials) music is rooted in the MIDI sounds of classic Nintendo and arcade video games, while the 8-bit graphic transitions used through the movie lend a fun vibe. The period-appropriate music also adds a nice element, especially a singalong to Europe’s classic “The Final Countdown, ” which I defy any viewer not to tap their feet, too. The final twenty minutes of Tetris are far and away, more exciting than I would have expected from a movie about contract negotiations and distribution rights. Still, when you can deliver a car chase using Tetris graphics and a Russian version of “Holding Out For A Hero,” you have an automatic win in my book. With Matthew Vaughn as producer, Tetris easily becomes one of the best movies ever made about video games and a prime example of a Cold War thriller done right.
Hearing the iconic Tetris theme at the film’s end cements just how incredible this story is. Tetris should have been stupid and never worked as well as it does. Because everyone is invested in telling this story while holding nothing back, Tetris ends up feeling like the kind of story everyone can root for about the video game everyone has played. As someone who had the first GameBoy when it came out in 1989 and played Tetris for hours, this film gives me a new appreciation not just for how innovative it was but for how truly transformative it was for everyone involved in bringing it to the world. Tetris is an exciting movie that, like the game itself, is intricate, puzzling, confounding, and leaves you wanting more. This is a winner in every way and one of the best movies about technology and video games ever made.