Film Review: TETRIS (2023): Taron Egerton is Terrific in the Exciting Story of How a Hit Video Game Came to Be

Tetris Review

Tetris (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by Jon S. Baird, written by Noah Pink and starring Taron Egerton, Nikita Efremov, Toby Jones, Natalia Gonchar, Oleg Stefan, Roger Aliam, Anthony Boyle, Mara Huf, Miles Barrow, Rick Yune, Ayano Yamamoto, Nino Furuhata, Togo Igawa, Ayane Nagabuchi and Kanon Narumi.

Jon S. Baird has crafted one of the most incredibly fascinating stories in the movies this year with the entertaining and fast-paced film, Tetris. In the movie, Taron Egerton stars as Henk Rogers, a family man who was promoting a video game in Las Vegas when he came to discover the worldwide potential of the puzzle game Tetris which swept the nation and became one of the most popular video games of its time. Pretty simple story, right? Not in the least. The story of how Tetris made it to arcades, Nintendo’s Game Boy and beyond is the stuff some of the best Hollywood action films are made of.

You certainly don’t have to have ever played the game or even know the details of what the game is to enjoy the new movie. Of course, if you are a fan, you’re likely to get the maximum enjoyment from it. Egerton’s Henk is the type of character you root for and want to shake some sense into at the same time. He puts his house up as collateral for a large loan to invest in the game. His wife, Akemi (Ayane Nagabuchi) is supportive but even her kind nature is challenged as enough things transpire to make her life become a whirlwind of unpredictability.

Toby Jones is Robert Stein in the movie. He’s a rival video game businessman who, just like Henk, is seeking out the rights to the handheld version of Tetris. Jones is perfectly cast as the money hungry Stein. He’s the type of character who isn’t very sympathetic, though, and one can feel sorry for him at times as he is always last in line to get in on the action that awaits regarding potential deals for the handheld edition of Tetris.

Joining Jones as one of the better members of the supporting cast in the movie is the great Oleg Stefan as Nikolai Belikov, the only one in the USSR who seems capable of keeping Henk from getting into huge trouble and actually scoring a deal to get the rights of the game. Stefan makes his character walk a tightrope between being fair and dangerous. We never know what way he’ll turn and his unpredictability keeps the viewer in suspense throughout.

Nikita Efremov plays Henk’s friend/colleague Alexey Pajitnov who is the brains behind the video game and is supportive of Henk’s efforts to secure the rights to it for certain platforms. Efremov turns in a solid performance making audiences sympathize with him even though nobody else in the film warrants the kind of trust that Alexey does. When Henk and Alexey seem to lose all hope of getting what they want, there’s another twist the movie unveils which keeps the action pumping at a quick pace.

There’s no shortage of appropriate songs on the soundtrack with the most effective song used in the picture being, “The Final Countdown.” There’s a lot of plot development that moves much brisker thanks to the use of songs and tight editing techniques which don’t leave time for audiences to get bored.

Henk is also shown as being a bit desperate as his reputation and his lifestyle are always on the line throughout the whole entire movie. In a heartbreaking moment in the picture, he fails to attend his young daughter, Maya (Kanon Narumi)’s artistic show because he’s caught in last minute attempts to try to salvage his dream to capture Tetris for the masses once and for all. While he pushes the limits and boundaries that normal people would, he sadly loses some of himself in the process.

It all worked out for Henk and his family for the most part but there is enough nerve-wracking suspense throughout the movie to make audiences think otherwise. Viewers will stand by Henk in large part thanks to Egerton’s brilliant performance. Egerton creates a layered character who is more than an ambitious smooth talker. He wants results and knows he’s the best man to get them.

Tetris, the film, doesn’t delve as deep into what made the game a success as it does into the character of Henk. The video game was and is very addictive as players turn pieces to make them fit alongside other pieces. It’s like a puzzle that seemingly never ends. At least I think it doesn’t. There are master players of the video game who can get very far in it but even for beginners, it provides a lot of fun.

Ultimately, Taron Egerton carries the movie towards success. If his character was less heroic, audiences would have a hard time following him and relating to him. Egerton makes the movie accessible to viewers. The action scenes are more than enough to keep viewers watching but having a flawed, but charismatic, hero like Egerton’s Henk helps raise Tetris to the next level and it’s a wildly entertaining ride.

Rating: 8/10

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