Tetris takes viewers through the perilous and demanding efforts to secure the licensing rights of the great video game in Moscow in the late 1980s. The blocks largely match in a spy-style thriller accompanied by 8-bit visual effects. The story progresses through higher levels as the characters, known as players, compete for the lucrative prize. The cloak and dagger plot works in the first two acts before taking a hyperbolic turn. An exaggerated finale feels ridiculous. Nevertheless, Tetris manages to show the iron grip of oppression, ruthless tactics and rampant corruption of communism.
In Las Vegas circa 1988, Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), founder of Bullet-Proof Software, sits in his booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). No one cares about his version of Go. He watches as everyone calls to play Tetris. Henk becomes fascinated by the addictive gameplay. He discovers that Mirrorsoft, a British company, owned the rights to it Tetris in the United States, but Japan, where he lived, was an open market.
Henk returns to Tokyo, determined to buy something Tetris. He takes advantage of everything he owns with a risky gamble, much to the chagrin of his wife (Ayane Nagabuchi) and business partner. Henk travels back to the United States and sneaks into Nintendo's headquarters. His bold move works. They are impressed Tetris but have a top secret project that will transform gaming. Henk races to Mirrorsoft in London with a new goal.
The true story behind the Tetris movie
Meeting Mirrorsoft owner Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and his arrogant son, Kevin Maxwell (Anthony Boyle), reveals new information. Mirrorsoft secured Tetris via Robert Stein (Toby Jones), a reluctant entrepreneur who sold Russian software. Henk realizes that he has to go to Moscow for the Tetris inventor and sign an exclusive contract before Mirrorsoft invades.
With a tourist visa, he flies into the flailing superpower under false pretenses. Meanwhile, in Moscow, Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov) receives a menacing visit from an untrustworthy trade minister (Igor Grabuzov) and his KGB thugs. They understand tetris' tremendous value and want compensation.
Tetris introduces the primary characters and settings with old-fashioned 8-bit graphics, the core is that everyone is trying to win the real game of owning a guaranteed money maker. Each level becomes more difficult as the players become caught up in the approaching demise of the Soviet Union. This stylized approach gets intrusive as the action heats up. A chase scene that turns into a video game feels silly and over the top. The established tension brims with reliance on cartoonish elements at critical moments.
Taron Egerton portrays Henk as brash and steadfast but genuinely motivated. He can't afford to take no for an answer. Henk risks personal safety in Russia for his family's financial future; they lose everything if he fails. Alexey also faces dire consequences, as Soviet citizens were not allowed to profit from their labor. He is targeted and brutally punished, while others take advantage of his brilliance. Communism subdues while demanding loyalty. The film's best moments show bleak food lines and the cigarette trade as elites clamor for the windfalls of free-market capitalism.
Gameplay graphics
Tetris is akin to those pesky L and T shaped blocks. They fit perfectly in some places, but cause problems in others. The overall storyline has merit. Henk and Alexey fighting off greedy vultures and a tyrannical government is worth watching. However, the gameplay graphics lose luster, and the movie doubles down on that approach when it shouldn't.
Tetris is a production of Apple Original Films, Marv Studios and AI Film. It will stream exclusively on Apple TV+ on March 31.
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