Film Review – Tetris (2023)

The 80s were the best decade in the world’s history. Yes, we can fight about it if you so wish but you know deep down it’s true. MTV, Chicken McNuggets, the disposable camera, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, He-Man, Thundercats, Only Fools and Horses… this intrepid writer…and so many more were first manifested into the world during this crazy decade. Of course, there were negatives – riots worldwide, governments collapsing, wars, economic crises, and much more – but they haven’t gone away, have they? The point is that the decade was amazing and helped lay the groundwork for much of what exists today across a plethora of everyday items, such as the beginning of the home videogame consoles and handheld alternatives including the legendary, and still wildly popular, GameBoy. And did you know about the battle to get the popular game Tetris, first launched in the former USSR, to the Western world? You do now…

If you thought a film about the invention and distribution of Tetris was going to be some mild, small, one-note “biopic” of sorts, think again, as Jon S. Baird’s ferociously entertaining film is much, much more than the sum of its tetrominoes. Part comedy, part espionage thriller, part capitalist drama, and even more therein, the story on show here brings together so many moving parts that it seems almost impossible to fit them all into one satisfying whole. Yet, like the game it is based on, somehow almost the pieces align and level up into an electrifying – and surprisingly – brilliant movie.

From its opening moments, it superbly recaptures the excitement and feel of those first forays into the world of video games and those incredible 8-bit graphics superbly, utilising them to not just showcase their world-changing abilities back in the day but also as a beautiful framework for the film and its globe-trotting nature, providing a burst of colour to the muted greys surrounding the players in the USSR. For anyone who has seen the Community episode set inside an 8-bit world, you’ll know what to expect. In the second act, the film does become somewhat bogged down in the politics of it all – on the world front, on the East v West front, and on the ownership rights front – so that it becomes a little frustrating at times, but it finds its footing again quickly enough to continue its rather charming presence. 

Then, of course, there’s Egerton, leading the charge again here and once more showcasing his superb abilities as a performer that have matured nicely over recent years. Since his big breakout in Kingsman and its sequel, he has been quick to find other avenues for his talents rather than regurgitating Eggsy numerous times over and anyone who has seen his stellar work in the brilliant Black Bird will testify to his ongoing brilliance. Here, as Dutch video game entrepreneur Henk Rogers, a pioneer who “has to bet the house to win”, he gives arguably his greatest turn, permeating the screen with a deftness and smoothness that is immediately inspiring and carries the film along with his charm and wit. Indeed, as with the film itself, it’s something of a tough sell to bring it all to life as a movie, but Egerton does it so beautifully that you are rooting for him as you would Rocky – you want him to win and land that killer blow. 

Helped along with a typically excellent Toby Jones, a smarmy, vicious Roger Allam as the smarmy, vicious Robert Maxwell, and Nikita Yefremov as Tetris inventor Alexey, the cast is uniformly good and helps elevate the film beyond what we suspect anyone was thinking. If you don’t come away from this humming the theme tune and calling your parents to rummage through boxes to find your old GameBoy, you’ve not watched it right. 

★★★★

Comedy, Drama | 2023 | Streaming on Apple TV+ March 31st | 15 | Dir: Jon S. Baird | Taron Egerton, Toby Jones, Roger Allam, Nikita Efremov, Rick Yune, Ben Miles, Sofya Lebedeva