It’s no surprise to anyone here at The Domain GPCE that I have been a huge fan of LEGO since I was very young. First, it was building the kits, then it was the videogames like LEGO Island, LEGO Racers, and Rock Raiders, and then far into the future, we started getting full-blown movies based on LEGO. When The LEGO Movie hit cinemas, it was a magical experience that made me feel like I was 8-and-a-half years old again and it also made me go out and buy a LEGO kit right after, which achieved the film’s goal in the first place. I also loved the sequel, even if it didn’t catch everyone’s tune like the first one and I stand by The LEGO Batman Movie being one of the best pieces of Batman media that someone can watch. The LEGO Ninjago Movie was a bit more hit or miss, but generally, The LEGO Group doesn’t miss when backing a film project. So when I heard the next LEGO movie, not produced by Warner Bros since the contract ran out, would not be a new narrative but a documentary about music producer Pharrell Williams at his request, my mind was like… huh?
Yes, Piece by Piece isn’t your normal LEGO movie, but rather an artistic choice by Pharrell Williams for his life’s story as a documentary, made entirely out of LEGO. The film puts a spotlight on the unique direction of the documentary several times, with most of the real friends and family surprised that their interviews were going to be voiceovers on a brick-based animation of themselves. There are no live-action elements, which is something that is still in the other LEGO movies, like the humans in Emmet’s story or the feline menace in Ninjago, but rather it is 100% all LEGO. And honestly, it works.
From the beginning of Pharrell’s story, he explains his relationship with music through the sensation of chromesthesia or the association of music with colors. This is part of the reason why he pushed for the film to be in LEGO to give a vibrant and colorful experience instead of a drab and boring documentary about what is ultimately about his life and the music that he produces. That isn’t to say his rise and fall and revival from stardom isn’t an interesting story, but the LEGO angle is unique enough to give a bigger push to the story and really get creative with the scenes that you can show on the big screen. Plus, seeing the likes of Missy Elliot, Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani (and No Doubt!) and Snoop Dogg as Minifigs is fun to watch!
Still, the whole story isn’t all about getting lucky and sunshine served at a bakery, with some more mature themes being tackled to push the PG rating to a different kind of audience. For instance, they heavily lampshaded the PG “spray” in the Snoop Dogg sequences when producing the megahit “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” In this way, it’s less of a real-life story being told as LEGO and more of a LEGO movie having this strange “real-world” lens that you really wouldn’t associate LEGO with the target audience of the brand and its fandom as a whole. It’s an achievement that the film doesn’t shy too far away from these darker moments in Pharrell’s life and yet, documentaries are told from the perspective of the director and occasionally the subject themselves. Nothing is 100% true, as a disclaimer states in the film’s credits, but it’s based as close enough to the story they want to tell, bricks or not.
However, that doesn’t detract too much from the quality of the film overall. For the audience, maybe closer to the teenaged or AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) crowd, familiar with the LEGO cinematic offerings, Piece by Piece offers a distinctly different yet enjoyable slice of the pie that we come to expect from the brand, with a strong recommendation to keep younger kids at home. Those who have been listening to Pharrell’s produced work, or turned on the radio at any point in the 2010s, will enjoy the story if they can get past the LEGO lens or aren’t too removed from the idea of Pharrell being in space and other wild scenes like that. If you’re not a fan of animation or hip-hop, this documentary isn’t for you.
I give Piece by Piece a score of three tickets out of five. The expectations are built up, but it’s a very specific construction that only those who meet the checklist can fully appreciate.
Piece by Piece is now playing nationwide in most major cinemas.