Great soundtrack on this one, otherwise nothing stands out.
There's no good vs. Evil scenario like in the King of Kong, although the mysterious Thor Ackerlund's apparent disinterest in the game that made him famous is hinted at throughout the movie creating something of an effective mystery.
It mostly briefly touches on the lives of the best Tetris players in the world as they converge on what appears to be intended to be the definitive Tetris tournament in Los Angeles.
And I do mean "briefly." There are 8 players and while you get to know a little bit of all of them, I didn't feel like we got to know any of them deeply. Nor did we learn much about Pajitnov. And there wasn't a whole lot of game footage.
There's a little more focus on the female players but, given their rarity in the field, it's a good angle to take. Educational in that respect.
These people seemed quite normal and the filmmakers didn't try to milk their weird qualities as they did for kong. It was all a very respectful and peaceful affair with some nice low-key music.
If you're interested in games and the people who play them obsessively, you'll enjoy it, but otherwise don't expect to get any deep life lessons out of it; probably nothing to much hold the interest of someone who's not interested in the subject matter either.
Honourable Mentions: Of course it rides on the coattails of The King of Kong (2007). I would say it has less entertainment value but on the other hand it's very respectful of its subjects. None of them came off as freaks except maybe in anecdote and if there was any ill-will among the players, it wasn't apparent.
There's no good vs. Evil scenario like in the King of Kong, although the mysterious Thor Ackerlund's apparent disinterest in the game that made him famous is hinted at throughout the movie creating something of an effective mystery.
It mostly briefly touches on the lives of the best Tetris players in the world as they converge on what appears to be intended to be the definitive Tetris tournament in Los Angeles.
And I do mean "briefly." There are 8 players and while you get to know a little bit of all of them, I didn't feel like we got to know any of them deeply. Nor did we learn much about Pajitnov. And there wasn't a whole lot of game footage.
There's a little more focus on the female players but, given their rarity in the field, it's a good angle to take. Educational in that respect.
These people seemed quite normal and the filmmakers didn't try to milk their weird qualities as they did for kong. It was all a very respectful and peaceful affair with some nice low-key music.
If you're interested in games and the people who play them obsessively, you'll enjoy it, but otherwise don't expect to get any deep life lessons out of it; probably nothing to much hold the interest of someone who's not interested in the subject matter either.
Honourable Mentions: Of course it rides on the coattails of The King of Kong (2007). I would say it has less entertainment value but on the other hand it's very respectful of its subjects. None of them came off as freaks except maybe in anecdote and if there was any ill-will among the players, it wasn't apparent.