Review: ‘Tetris’ Will Really Make You Want to Play Tetris

It’s funny to see what happens whenever a character plays Tetris for the first time in the new movie “Tetris.” Two young girls are testing out the game at home. In a quiet trance, Hiroshi Yamauchi (Togo Igawa), the president of Nintendo, is known for his poker skills. Put the joystick down and declare it “not bad” (compliment) and Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), an ambitious video game entrepreneur who spied an early demo at the electronics trade show for A consumer in Vegas in 1988 is captivated by the overturning and falling square pieces that haunt his dreams. maybe you can relate Watching one-on-one characters get hit by a Tetris spell, of course, I wanted nothing more than to leave everything, including “Tetris”, and play a few rounds on my own.

since then i did that And will probably go on a few more times once I’m done reviewing and giving up the obligation to think about this semi-debunked, curious film. Don’t get me wrong: the disappointment of “Tetris” isn’t that it fails to deliver the delights of an ingeniously simple and addictive puzzle game. Moreover, the movie seems to have lost its own way of playing its content. To simulate Tetris’ complex Soviet-era origins, attempts have been made with little success. to assemble a variety of different fast-moving assemblies into satisfactory consistent shapes. An over-the-top chaotic mix of cartoons. A touching journey back in time to the 80s and a history lesson in the dark middle of Perestroika never meet.

Smoothly directed by Jon S. Baird (“Stan and Ollie”) from a tricky script by Noah Pink, “Tetris” doesn’t focus on game invention. A Soviet computer genius named Alexey Pachitov (Nikita Efremov) — but how did it find its way out behind the Iron Curtain and into the hands of enthusiasts around the world? The result is a Cold War-era Cinderella tale for arcade enthusiasts, where Tetris meets an improbable Prince Charming on Nintendo (and, in particular, the failed Game Boy handheld). Nintendo’s huge success) and unknowingly became a harbinger of Soviet defeat, forcing Henk and other proud beneficiaries to live a life of capitalism forever.

Togo Igawa, from left, Nino Furuhata and Taron Egerton in “Tetris.”

(Apple TV+)

Henk is the energetic hero of this energetic film. and Egerton portrays him in his refined bedside manner. growing a keen beard and enough warm and social energy to neutralize your partner when he explains I have some Indonesian ancestry. Egerton is a tough, hard-working actor (see: “Rocketman,” the “Kingsman” movie), but quelling this particular disbelief—maybe a bit too polite euphemism for the Holly baptism case. Standard Matter Wood – Hard to pull off. In a story where cultural specifics are completely irrelevant.

meanwhile Henk’s ability to blur cultural and geographical boundaries was both a mark of his ambition and a key driver of his success. He was born in the Netherlands and grew up in America. He built his home in Tokyo with his children. The lovely trio and their overly patient wife, Akemi (Ayane Nagabushi). Fortress at home and at the newly opened video game company Bullet-Proof Software . He is striving to secure the rights to Japan in its various forms (video games, personal computers, arcade games). But it was frustratingly rejected. Most of it came from British publisher Mirrorsoft, led by the obnoxious father-son billionaire duo Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam, one-note taunts) and Kevin Maxwell (Anthony Boyle, thoroughly drilled).

But Henk’s calculations change and the stakes escalate. When Nintendo execs Howard Lincoln (Ben Miles) and Minoru Arakawa (Ken Yamamura) quietly unveil the first Game Boy, it’s the “end game” moment that sets the film. This became the biggest hit and the purest of nostalgia… the results on that point were assured. But the journey has long and complicated hurdles — for Henk and the audience, things get especially messy when it becomes clear — because things like intellectual property and private ownership didn’t exist in the Soviet Union. But scams and competition do a lot – the rights to Tetris, which were claimed prematurely by various entities including Mirrorsoft, are still a lot up for grabs.

To unravel this hellish web, Henk travels to Moscow. where he tumbles down the rabbit hole of misinformation and disinformation. political turmoil and reasonable paranoia He lost himself in the icy space. Functional areas and the ghostly shadows of the city. From Daniel Taylor’s various production designs, Henk’s arc in Russia also introduces some of the film’s most interesting characters, including ELORG. The head of a government-controlled software company (Oleg Stefan), a suspiciously cute interpreter (Sofia Lebedeva), and most importantly, Alexey himself. Alexei had to stand and watch his brilliant creations inflated into symbols of the struggle between East and West. But it’s been reduced to just the waste of the Cold War — the prize it should be. quarreled by a less greedy mind

Taron Egerton, from left, Sofia Lebedeva and Nikita Efremov have an adventure in “Tetris.”

(Apple TV+)

Movies don’t shed as much light on this solution. While the focus is on cape-and-dagger antics, and he says the dialogue clearly has its predecessor in the movie, Tetris lacks both the suspense of “Argo” and its cynicism. In the boardroom of “The Social” Network,” or, to be honest, the average episode of “Succession,” Henk, like many movie heroes, gets a little bit of a rivalry. But most of them are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. meanwhile His rivals are rarely above caricatures. Whether it’s Robert Maxwell, who once tried to take advantage of his friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev (Matthew March), or Robert Stein ( Toby Jones) The cunning middleman. Eliminate bigger and more powerful fellow players.

And they’re all presented in a metaphor where the game knows the game as the player: the main character is given an old-school avatar. and many of the film’s foreign locations were drawn using traditional video graphics. These visual touches are very emotional. Although by the time Henk found himself in a car chase through the streets of Moscow. Complemented by explosive 8-bit style graphics that hint at the boring and oddly wrong Super Mario Kart prototype. hard not to recognize Filmmaker’s Despair It’s as if they’re trying to tie “Tetris” to Tetris, but it’s too late to introduce a stylish connection point that goes beyond composer Lorne Balfe’s playful style in the game’s wickedly catchy music.

The suggestion that “Tetris” only comes to life when Tetris itself uses the midframe. No more than in the heartbreaking scene Henk and Alexey, future friends and associates. Spend some time fiddling with the original, outdated version of the game . You are witnessing the beginnings of bromance technology long ago. You may be wondering why Alexey is deprived of what should be his story. Watching him write code repeatedly with astonishing agility You finally feel the artistic and intellectual excitement. The sincere joy in the creation – and the perfection – of something of lasting value. “I forgot how much fun it was,” Henk surprised from the sidelines. You will know what he means.