Its been quite a few busy days where it was hard to keep posting as I wanted although did had some time to sit down and watch a few movies, besides Roman theme movies I do love a movie that tells the story of something build, in this case it was a game called Tetris Tetris and I have got to say, this is not what I expected at all, it's actually a pretty wild ride about how this iconic game came to be and all the crazy stuff that went down behind the scenes. The movie opens in the late '80s, showing us this Dutch guy trying to make it big in the video game world, his name Henk Rogers. At a trade show, he stumbles across Tetris and immediately knows it's gonna be huge, I guess that's sometimes people get with experience and others just have that natural instinct to know its going to be great but I think its also some luck into it since there is nothing that guarantee it will be big. The problem for him was getting the rights to this game is a lot more complicated than just signing a few papers. It’s international intrigue, shady deals and even the KGB, that's fkn insane. In some ways it’s like a Cold War spy thriller mixed up with a business drama and somehow it works.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12758060/
- Platform: AppleTV+
Rottentomatoes Rating
The real hook for me was that the movie made all of this legal and business stuff actually exciting and complex that makes you feel you want to know more about it. Who knew watching people argue over distribution rights could be so entertaining? well this is the same concept at the core of the movie "The Social Network" and it was damn interresting, from the moment this hole situation start you will want Henk to pull it off or lose everything. There is also the way they contrast the glitzy world of video game conventions and the grim reality of late '80s Soviet Union is pretty darn cool, because at the end what the hell do they have in common? its all about power and control.
The movie also at times have this 8 bit graphics through scenes, not like they putting the audience into the game but making reference to the original game and the 80s at the same time as much as they could to create a deeper feel and meaning to the scenario at hand, same goes for the audio and sound track with music from the 80s playing to keep the Tetris vibes during the entire movie.
Before I could recommend this movie to anyone there is one aspect I need to make clear, there were times I got a little lost in all that back and forth about who owned what rights and whose company was trying to screw over whose company, its a tricky situation to track down and this might push away some viewers or even make them enjoy less the movie. I wasn't 100% sure what was going on, but the movie does a pretty good job of keeping things moving so it does not turn into a boring legal battle. Taron Egerton who plays Henk, really carries the movie on his shoulders, very energetic guy, never say die attitude that makes you want to root for him even when he’s making some pretty questionable decisions, this movie is very similar; not the same, but similar to Blackberry, to a certain point not the movie itself but the story after all both are about screwing up others while making a ton of money.
There is this scene with Henk where you can see the passion in his eyes there, when he's trying to explain Tetris to his family. It's like he's talking about the most beautiful thing in the world, not just falling blocks. Egerton's talent really sells the desperation and fear, but never overdoes it, and when things are going south. Nikita Efremov plays Alexey Pajitnov, the guy who created Tetris and he is got this quiet intensity that works really well, you can see that he is torn between his love of the game he invented and his loyalty to the Soviet system. There is a moment where he and Henk are bonding over games and it’s so natural that almost felt real like they actually are those two guys having a passionate talk about games, this reminds me of my 20's when I was very passionate about gaming, specifically Stafcraft and the Korean league. On the opposite end you have Roger Allam and Anthony Boyle playing the Maxwell Family, Roger Allam as Robert Maxwell and Anthony Boyle plays his son Kevin Maxwell, who are trying to steal Tetris outright. Kevin Maxwell got a spoiled rich kid thing going on where you just want to grab him by the neck and smack him.
Oleg Stefan who played the Soviet official in charge of negotiating the Tetris rights, was one performance that really made an impact on the movie, a very strict guy who does everything by the book bureaucrat, but as the movie progresses you begin to see these little cracks in his character.As it always happen in the movies and I would say in real life during that time, you get the feeling that you can actually see the whole weight of the Soviet system and his own conscience of the hole situation, with the game rights and who Alexey came up with a revolutionary idea from a kids game that he saw on display, in real life nothing ground braking but in digital, it was pure gold, the key aspect is that by this game been created as a Soviet Government employee it was not actually his, he didn't own it so he could not sell it, everything a Soviet Government employee did back then was never theirs. You might think like well what if it was done at home and not during work hours, its almost a fact that it it was big enough the Soviets would find a way to have as much grip as they could.
Towards the end of the movie it really tunrs into the cat and mouse game, Henk finally gets the rights to Tetris and so he's gotta get out of Moscow before the KGB catches up with him, there is this crazy car chase through the streets of Moscow, which is like something out of a Bond movie, there were many things that were actually bring excitement and action to the movie, meaning things that are not part of the true story, this is a movie "BASED ON A TRUE STORY. During the chase the Tetris theme is used as the soundtrack, which is both ridiculous and kinda cool, reminds you like a Super Mario action part of the game, after all it was a great addition to the movie
When Henk comes back to Japan and surprises his wife with a check for $5 million, this is a great moment of triumph after all the stress and danger he has been through, finally Henk and Alexey reunite in San Francisco, a cool moment that proves how their friendship outpaced all the political and business craziness, something that works for the movie as a good reminder that all this drama was born from two guys who really loved making games, Henk and Alexey, but the truth about this meeting is that in real life it happens in Seattle, not San Fracisco, everyone knows how movie trolls are about things when they are not lore or factual like in these but I really dont care as long as its entertaining.
In the end the movie is not just about who gets rich or who wins the rights to the game, its about doing the right thing even when it’s risky. Henk could have just taken the money and run but instead helps Alexey and makes sure he receives the recognition and rewards he deserves for creating Tetris. The movie also does a good job of showing what was happening with the fall of the Soviet Union, we see Nikolai knowing the old way of doing things is not going to last much longer, there is the breaking of the Iron Curtain, of the capitalist entertainment, Tetris work out as a symbol of change.
The movie makes me think how even the fight for the rights of a game could be a pivotal point and can cause these huge world changing events. Who would have thought that such a simple little puzzle game would spark international politics, corporate espionage and the be during the times of the fall of communism?, the movie is also prove that innovation and creativity can and will come from anywhere and sometimes the smallest things can have the biggest impact. A movie about taking the chances, following what you love doing and saying what you mean, when people tell you it won't work out, because to be hones everything starts as a dream, from nothing to something important but at first its just a thought, an idea, the movie is also about friendship that don't care about borders or ideologies. I would have been cool if this movie came out during the early 2000s when phones still had this old block games, would make you imagine what went into creating that snake game on your Nokia, just as everything that happen on Tetris, probably not as a dramatic story but would spark that curiosity for sure.
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