Piece By Piece review

PIECE BY PIECE: 

A SOLID PHARRELL WILLIAMS BIOPIC TOLD WITH LEGOS THAT’S WELL-CONSTRUCTED! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

FOCUS FEATURES

Lego Pharrell Williams in Piece By Piece

 

            The story of beloved singer-songwriter, Pharrell Williams comes to the screen but told in Lego pieces in the animated biopic/documentary, Piece By Piece. In 2014, The Lego Movie was released and it was one of the most acclaimed and successful animated features of the year and one of the most innovative films of the genre. 

            Give it 10 years and you got a Pharrell Williams biopic Lego movie; you fill in the blanks. This also marks the first animated film from Focus Features without any involvement from Laika Studios since 2009’s 9. 

The film is more like a documentary that consists of live recorded interviews with Pharrell, other musicians, Pharrell’s family members, etc., but with Lego animation put on top of them. It’s an interesting experiment especially for the musician biopic and documentary genres. 

            I’m no Pharrell Williams expert though I have heard a handful of his songs at various points in my life, but the movie certainly caught my interest when it was announced. I didn’t know what to make of it when I saw the trailer but coming out of the movie, I have to admit this was a pleasant surprise. 

            I was impressed by how much I enjoyed this film and thought it was a creative, visually dazzling, and ingenious way of telling a biopic. Let’s get a biopic on the creation of the Transformers brand done entirely in Transformersfigures next. 

            The film chronicles the life and career of singer-songwriter, Pharrell Williams (voiced by himself), his fascination with music at a young age, and the big-name artists he collaborated with and assisted such as Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg, personal life and struggles, and the cultural impact of his music told through the lens of Legoanimation. The film also features the voices of the film’s director Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Mickey: The Story of a Mouse), Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Pusha T, and Missy Elliott as themselves and Tyler, the Creator as Pharrell’s teacher. 

            Overall, Piece By Piece is a brilliant, entertaining, and yes, informative take on a musician’s biopic and essentially a love letter to music in general. The movie effectively captures the power and emotions music has on us depicted beautifully through its visuals. 

            The scenes where Pharrell is listening to music are some of the most eye-catching and gorgeously animated sequences of the entire film. Flashes of lights and vibrant colors engulfing Pharrell that are almost psychedelic in how they’re shown while he becomes infatuated by music. 

It’s definitely smaller in scale compared to previous Lego movies, but the animators and artists fully took advantage of what they had and delivered some truly breathtaking visual depictions of the effects of music. It’s honestly some of the most creative and energetic animation set to music I’ve seen since probably Disney’s Fantasia. 

Like I said, I’m no Pharrell Williams expert aside from his songs being featured in Despicable Me and a song on The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s soundtrack, but I cannot deny the fact the man is talented. While the whole music biopic done in Lego animation is an odd choice, it strangely fits with the kind of person he is, Pharrell is pretty light-hearted and quirky in terms of his musical style so a movie about him with Legos doesn’t seem too out of place. 

Also, after hearing his songs in the movie and the stories behind them, I have a whole new appreciation for his work and might even purchase some of them on iTunes in the near future. To me, that’s what a great biopic, music documentary, or film about music in general is supposed to do, get me invested in the story and people involved and the admire their music. 

I will say, this is probably a Lego movie that’s geared a little more towards adults than kids (The film is rated PG though) with some heavy and topical current events regarding racial issues being addressed. It didn’t seem jarring to me when these topics were being discussed because it did feel like an important part of the story, but it was surreal seeing animated Lego figures wearing Black Lives Matter shirts and rioting against police brutality. 

Still, these are very important issues in our society that need to be taught and discussed even if it’s with a bunch of cartoony Lego characters here. When a movie that’s seemingly absurd is able to work in themes and subject matter like that effectively, it’s something to be admired and respected. 

Piece By Piece is a solid animated biopic on Pharrell Williams that not only celebrates his songs and legacy, but music as an art form. The animation is beautiful, the premise is both fun and informative, and the story is told in a unique and unconventional way that sets a new standard for how to tell a musician’s biopic. 

What more can I say, but this movie made me “Happy”?