Exploring the true story origin of one of the most iconic early video games in history in the form of a Cold War thriller, Apple TV+ delivers one of the biggest streaming film launches this year with “Tetris” which drops on the service on March 31st.
“Kingsman” and “Rocketman” star Taron Egerton plays Dutch-born American video game entrepreneur Henk Rogers who discovers TETRIS in 1988, and then risks everything by traveling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov to bring the game to the masses.
Toby Jones, Roger Allam, Anthony Boyle, Togo Igawa, Ken Yamamura, Ben Miles, and Matthew Marsh also star whilst Jon S. Baird directs. With the film having premiered at SXSW, enough reviews are out that the film has pulled in an 83% (6.7/10) score on Rotten Tomatoes from over 21 reviews so far.
Here’s a sampling of quotes:
“Picture ‘Tetris’ as a lo-fi version of John Le Carre’s ‘The Russia House.'” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“Somewhere along the way in Jon S. Baird’s fleet and compelling fictionalized look at the invention of Tetris, you forget that you’re watching a film about a video game.” – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter
“Combining the stranger-than-fiction story of its making with an ardent embrace of the game’s aesthetic and nostalgia for the era more broadly, Tetris is a surprisingly smart, silly, and satisfying adventure.” – Kristy Puchko, Mashable
“The entire cast is terrific here in a movie that kept me on edge more than any Bourne flick could ever do.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline
“No, not all the pieces fit together, and it certainly doesn’t speed up as the game winds on (something it might have done well to emulate from the game itself), but it’s got players worth rooting for and a story that keeps leveling up.” – Kate Erbland, IndieWire
“Tetris finds its fun in the details of contracts and the specifics of deal-making, realising that even when it’s not on a screen in your hands, it’s all one big game.” – Ben Lee, The Guardian
“‘Tetris’ skims the surface of a genuinely curious ‘true story’ thriller, which too often plays out like a Disney-ified version of ‘The Social Network.'” – Simon Abrams, The Wrap
“While it never quite swims beyond the shallows of its money-minded plot, this fictionalised account of the licensing battle over hit puzzle game Tetris is, for the most part, absorbing and exuberant.” – Dan John, Empire
“Tetris’ creation and its worldwide spread is a great story, but the complexities of its thorny rights issues and lawsuits don’t fit with the cartoon villainy and heavy dramatization.” – Michael McWhertor, Polygon
The film’s director John S. Baird recently told Den of Geek that the film is more akin to real life than you might expect – “90% of it, we really stuck to the [real] narrative. We just jazzed up the other 10% because it’s not a documentary.”
“Tetris” will be released exclusively on Apple TV+ on March 31st.
