“Tetris” Review
(From Left) Nikita Efremov and Taron Edgerton star in “Tetris,” available on Apple TV+, as the titular game’s creator Alexey Pajitnov and as Henk Rogers, who became the game’s worldwide distributor.
When you think of video games whose origins would make a compelling film, Tetris isn’t one of them. It’s a game that stars falling blocks as the main characters instead of an Italian plumber or a blue speeding hedgehog. However, as it turns out, this game and how it got to the public were far more complicated than anyone could believe. Now, over 30 years after the game’s creation, an Apple TV+ original film has been made detailing this bizarre story and it’s a fun film to stream.
In 1988, video game designer Henk Rogers (Taron Edgerton) discovers and becomes entranced by the game Tetris. Wanting to bring it to the masses by working with Nintendo, Rogers discovers that he is one of many interested parties wanting to take this game and sell it on a wide scale. When all of the people bidding for this game prove to be a bunch of conniving backstabbers and schemers, Rogers decides to go and meet with the game’s creator Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) in Soviet Moscow. What follows is a suspenseful saga of espionage, KGB spies and basic corporate greed. All for a game about falling blocks.
The idea that so much trouble was caused by this game is funny enough and the fact that it got turned into a film is even more so. Spurring this conflict is Taron Edgerton’s fantastic performance as Henk Rogers and his passionate pursuit of this game. Does he want to make money off of this game and sell it across the world for Nintendo? Sure. However, he is far more distinguished from his odious rivals. For starters, his motivation is making money for his family instead of for his own self-interest. Also, he actually knows plenty about games, computing and coding.
The passion Edgerton conveys as Rogers is fantastic and you instantly fall in love with his affection for games and want to see him beat all of those other greasy bastards. When he makes it to the Soviet Union and meets Alexey Pajitnov, they strike up a bond because they both know that their interest in the game goes beyond money. In this chaotic world of capitalism battling communism for interest in Tetris, they seem to be the only ones looking at what’s going on and wondering how things could have gotten so chaotic.
There’s an incredible energy throughout “Tetris,” combining a spy thriller with all of the 8-bit splendor of Rogers’ world. The entertainment that the film has to offer is sure to entice both gamers and lovers of tense business drama. As the great Aaron Sorkin says, watching smart people argue is just fantastic. It’s even more interesting to see just how many parallels there are between the pursuit of Tetris and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
While the film may be a bit on the light side for some, it’s important to remember that this is all based around a video game. When you keep that in mind, everything in this film instantly becomes more funny. There’s certainly serious moments to be found and “Tetris” never loses sight of what Rogers stands to lose, especially in the U.S.S.R., and you desperately want him to succeed.
We seem to be in a time where adaptations of video games are finally getting the respect they deserve. “Tetris” not only gives the game its due, but also makes for a fantastic story about a game that most of us play on our computers when we can’t win at Solitaire.
