Tetris review

With The Super Mario Bros movie. in theaters almost simultaneously with the release of Jon S. Baird tetris on Apple TV+, it seems that Nintendo is having a cinematic moment. But beyond the fact that the two films are inspired by popular titles from the Japanese video game giant, they couldn’t be more different. Luckily, Tetris isn’t an animated comedy adventure with talking tetrominoes that have to learn to adapt. Instead, it’s a heavily stylized biopic of the game’s real-world origin.

Although this is not strictly accurate. While Baird’s film briefly covers the creation of Tetris, the brainchild of Russian programmer Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) in 1984, it is actually related to Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), the spunky businessman who eventually made his fortune by securing the console rights to the game and convincing Nintendo to end up with their revolutionary new device, the Game Boy. Instead of mostly featuring scenes of a nerdy Russian sitting in front of his computer screen, they’re actually mostly men negotiating contracts in meeting rooms. Kudos to Baird and writer Noah Pink, then, for managing to keep it lively, lively and engaging throughout.

This is achieved in part thanks to Baird’s flashy meta device that makes 8-bit graphics dance across the screen, integrating and sometimes blending with the action. While somewhat overused, it has the useful effect of diffusing reality, making it easier for us to accept, say, the ludicrous spy thriller of Henk embarking on a frantic car chase with the KGB on his tail. , while squeaky vehicles dissolve into retro. computer animation and vice versa.

But the film’s appeal is also a testament to its directors’ ability to find and generate comedy-tinged tension from potentially dry material. A superbly edited and extended sequence features three simultaneous encounters in three different rooms, whose swinging and slamming doors almost evoke a French bedroom farce. Meanwhile, the Fría War bottom line has added a transcendent dramatic touch, with the inclusion of recognizable historical figures (including the tabloid owner Robert Maxwell, played by Roger Allam under a prosthetic tone) that brought true weight algo.

However, as the situation darkens and worsens for the irrepressible Henk, to whom Egerton imbues a childish charm, the tone always shifts to the lighter side, with the plot leaning towards the unlikely cultural friendship between Henk and Alexey, and that is based on a punch in the air, high point where we are in the money.

All these years after the Berlin Wall came down and the lessons we’ve learned since then, it’s pretty amazing to see a movie that’s essentially a good story about the triumph of yuppie-led capitalism. As a result, for all its enthusiasm, likeability, and stylistic appeal (including a catchy and predictable electronic score by Lorne Balfe), the moral of this story feels as retro as the game itself.