‘Tetris’ Blends Nostalgia and Political Intrigue
Tetris is not a video game movie, though it is a movie about a video game. There’s no generic protagonist who gets sucked into a pixelated world, no CGI bag guy to battle, no overbearing score to make it feel epic. It turns out the international intrigue surrounding how this addictive game came into all of our lives is much more fascinating than some manufactured video game movie plot where a group of heroes has to fight 3D blocks falling from the sky.
Taron Egerton stars as Henk Rogers, a struggling video game salesman who sees the enormous potential of an addictive Russian video game and seeks to secure the rights and bring the game to the world. Along the way, he meets the game’s creator, Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov), a brilliant man whose talents are stifled by the crushing rules and surveillance of the Soviet Union.
It seems everyone wants a piece of this game, from Alexey’s boss and head of the Russian computer science division Nikolai Belikov (Oleg Stefan) to billionaires Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and his arrogant son Kevin (Anthony Boyle) to rival salesman Robert Stein (Toby Jones) to KGB operatives like Valentin Trifonov (Igor Grabuzov giving a little bit of Hans Landa in this performance).
In the midst of all this, Henk’s wife Akemi (Ayane Nagabuchi) is upset that he’s bet their family’s future on such a big risk, particularly when the threat of the KGB makes its way from Russia to their doorstep in Tokyo.
Tetris starts out a bit slow but starts to really pick up once Henk finds himself in the tangled web of international politics and business. Egerton’s performance keeps viewers interested in the character and invested in his success even during some of the less intriguing moments. That endearing energy only amps up our emotional investment once things start really hitting the fan. During an airport scene reminiscent of Argo, we’re locked right into the tension wondering if Henk’s whole plan will hit a brick wall at the last possible second.
Aside from Egerton, the major standout is Efremov, who plays Alexey as a sensitive dreamer who has been so emotionally beaten down by the world around him that he struggles to see any hope in his situation. Alexey is understandably cynical but connects with Henk in a way that makes them both realize they could achieve huge things together.
To keep the film from only feeling like a political thriller, we get 8-bit graphics during transitions or action moments and a score comprised mostly of the Tetris theme in various moods. This adds a bit more pop sensibility to a movie that wants to tell a fascinating story but knows that it also has to tap into that ‘80s nostalgia that will get people to watch.
These two ideas can sometimes not flow together in the smoothest way. For example, the trailer highlights the reveal of the Game Boy as an iconic moment, though the story focuses far more on the rights to handheld Tetris than on the device itself. It’s reasonable to want to play up the nostalgia aspect for a trailer, though, because telling people they’ll be intrigued by a movie about video game licensing rights is a much tougher sell.
If you’re old enough to have played Tetris on your original Game Boy, you’re probably also ready for a new movie that isn’t filled with laser fights or CGI action. Thankfully, this story about the little game with falling blocks that made its way from the crumbling Soviet Union to the Game Boy screen of your childhood is definitely worth checking out on Apply TV+.
