TL;DR – An absolute fun blast of a film that might not match entirely with history, but it wears all of its influences on its sleeve.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this film.

Tetris Review –

I think, like most people, I rolled my eyes when I heard that there was going to be a Tetris film. That is because I thought they were going to try and turn it into some sort of Battleship situation. I am not sure that we were ready for a dramatized retelling of how the worldwide video game rights made it out of the Soviet Union or for how good the story would be.  

So to set the scene, it is 1988, a precarious time in world history. The Cold War was rapidly coming to a peaceful end, and the first big computer boom was in full swing. It is in this world that Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) of Bullet-Proof Software sees someone selling Tetris at the Consumer Electronics Expo in Las Vegas. The problem is that Henk does not have the money to buy the game, let alone license it for Japan, which means that he must sweat-talk his Banker (Rick Yune) into letting him do what he has already done. Because a deal with Nintendo only comes around once in a blue moon, all he must do is bet the house … literally.   

What I love from the start is how it wears its love for Video Games on its sleeve: the music, the visuals, the history, everything. So many times, I have watched a video game adaptation that feels almost embarrassed about the work they are exploring. Here, the love of video games is embedded in everything this film does, which, from a personal perspective, is great to see. But it also helps those who might not be familiar with all the different aspects of the industry to follow what is going on. I also like how it used this discussion of the game to explore how the Soviet Union was on the precipice of dramatic internal change.

Interestingly, for all the framing, the heart of this film is just a business discussion, an exploration of how the murky rights to video games were codified during the collapse of the Soviet Union. I have never once found a business transaction enjoyable, well, until today. I am not sure how well it matches the realities of what went down, but you can’t admit the cross-negotiations were fascinating to watch. The cocky British businessman (Anthony Boyle) desperately tries to escape his domineering father’s (Roger Allam) shadow. The dodgy middleman (Toby Jones) who has been screwing everyone over. The Soviet Communist facilitator (Igor Grabuzov) trying to cut a deal for themselves, Then Henk who is trying to cut them all out by going straight to the creator Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov) with the help of his translator Sasha (Sofia Lebedeva). I would say that the only thing that didn’t ring true in its depiction was how oblivious Alexey’s kids were to the danger they were in.  

One of the things that makes this film work as well as it did is that all of the cast members give their all. Taron Egerton has to do so much of the heavy lifting here, and you can feel his passion throughout the film. Many of the Russian actors are playing to a type, but they are relishing in the moment. I think the standout for me was Sofia Lebedeva, who gets to go on a fascinating arc throughout the film. Now, it is clear that this is a heavily dramatized version of what went down. Was there a car chase to the airport? Probably not. Did it make me smile the whole time? Absolutely. Which is perhaps why I liked this more than the similar Air, who took itself a bit too seriously. Also, the constant video game-ifiction of the world and the people gave it the freshness that helped sell some of the sillier aspects of the film.

In the end, do we recommend Tetris? Absolutely. I am sorry that I slept on it so long. It was a fun romp. Taron gave his all with an era-perfect moustache, and they blasted that Tetris theme song whenever they could. If you liked Tetris, we would recommend to you Gran Turismo.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Tetris
Directed by – Jon S. Baird
Written by – Noah Pink
Music by – Lorne Balfe
Cinematography by – Alwin Küchler
Edited by – Martin Walsh, Colin Goudie & Ben Mills
Production/Distribution Companies – Apple Studios, Imagine Entertainment, AI Film, Marv Studios, Unigram & Apple TV+
Starring – Taron Egerton, Nikita Yefremov, Sofia Lebedeva, Anthony Boyle, Ben Miles, Ken Yamamura, Igor Grabuzov, Oleg Shtefanko, Ayane Nagabuchi, Rick Yune, Roger Allam & Toby Jones with Togo Igawa, Matthew Marsh, Ieva Andrejevaite & Kanon Narumi
Rating – Australia: M;