Tetris (2023)

Title: Tetris
Year: 2023
Genre: Biography | Drama | History |
Runtime: 118 min
Director: Jon S. Baird
Starring: Taron Egerton, Toby Jones, Nikita Efremov

7.4/10

An enterprising game developer risks everything in a race to outmaneuver duplicitous insiders to negotiate a deal with Soviet Union bureaucrats for the international licensing rights to what would eventually become one of the most recognizable and widely played games in history.

A US-RUSSIA FILM THAT GOES LARGE

Like so many American films that takes place during the 1980s and prior to that, it surrounds Russia and the United States. It explores the dynamic between the power couple. It lies heavy on the spies in Soviet, the enigma of surviving in a communist-led country and securing the rights for a special little game.

Tetris is a popular tile-matching puzzle video game that was created by Alexey Pajitnov, a computer engineer from the Soviet Union, in 1984. The game involves manipulating various shapes, called tetrominoes, as they fall from the top of the game board to the bottom. The block puzzle game gained popularity quickly, first in the Soviet Union and then in the United States and other countries. The game was distributed on a variety of platforms, including arcade machines, home computers, and handheld gaming devices. One of the reasons for the game’s success was its simplicity and addictiveness, as well as the fact that it could be played by anyone, regardless of age or skill level. Today, Tetris is still widely played and has been released on numerous platforms, including smartphones, gaming consoles, and computers.

It delves deep in the relationship between Rogers and Pajitnov relationship, the dynamic between the dutch Rogers and soviet Pajitnov. It portray Soviet Union in so many other Americans stories as the villain. Taron Egerton often is a dismal in his roles but in this film, he shines like he never done before. Toby Jones, has a minor role per se but a big part to play in the overall aspect of this ordeal. The script stands out to be really effective when mr Rogers starts to travel all over the world and the pace makes it worthwhile. The film tries hard to portray Rogers demeaning travels and busy schedule, missing key moments in his five children’s life. It’s a story that combines a slight sting of relax comedy-drama to the intense politicial thriller.

The ironic part is that the real-life counter-part Henk Rogers has had objection to the film, claiming it was typical Hollywood film. And it is. Most part of the film feels like the film is larger than the story. It tries to expand the story, to be far more intrigued-filled plot than necessary. Tetris is a story that only goes in one direction. It won’t reach everyone who needs to see it. In concludes it targets those with interest of video-game history that has blown up in proportion. This predictable never-ending story fighting the russian, provides a slight insight in the video-game business but drownes heavily in the fascination of the communist leadership of Soviet Union.