Over the opening titles of Piece By Piece, a lyric reads, "It's happening." "Yes, it is real." Here's early access to assurance that this is, in fact, a legitimate movie. Lego films about Batman, ninjas, and Scooby-Doo have been produced. However, a documentary on music A Lego film? Away from the irony-driven Lord & Miller LEGO entry, Piece By Piece is a shockingly serious and sincere film about a serious and sincere artist, made with the full cooperation of Pharrell Williams, a self-described “hybrid thinker”. Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom), an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, takes a fairly drastic turn, yet it mostly adheres closely to the typical talking-heads documentary format. just in Lego.
The first act is essentially a diluted chronicle of Virginia's thriving hip-hop and R&B scene in the 1990s: Williams, who was a music maniac, surrounded himself with other up-and-coming Virginia artists like Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Interestingly, they and other contributors, such as megastars Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, and Jay-Z, appear here only as Lego minifigures.
Neville's embracing of animation's boundless potential makes it feel vibrant and alive. Williams' childhood synesthesia—perceiving music as color—is exquisitely realized. However, the minifigures' limitations—their clumsy movements and simple facial expressions—feel inconsistent with the human narrative. The corporate toy tie-in in other places, like the Lego Martin Luther King and Black Lives Matter march, just feels completely out of place.
Additionally, the narrative needs more context. At moments, it looks as though we are only seeing "The Rise and Rise of Pharrell Williams"; his only issue appears to be his excessive success. Williams himself presented the concept, thus it's probable that the film's viewpoint is a little constrained. For instance, the soundtrack only includes a quick performance of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," with no reference to the criticism that followed or the continuing legal battle between Williams and his Neptunes production partner Chad Hugo.
Nevertheless, Williams is a fascinating and sincere subject with an indisputable talent for funky, futuristic, humorous sounds, and the music is flawless, of course. "Hella Good," "Frontin," "Get Lucky," and "Happy" are just a few of the incredible hits that Williams is credited with creating. You can't argue with Lego Busta Rhymes' assertion that he had a "hot hand" at one time in the 2000s. Goosebumps are inevitable when the beat of "Drop It Like It's Hot" starts.
But why Lego is still a mystery. The response appears to be that Pharrell Williams simply like Legos a lot. I mean, fair enough.
Williams came up with this decision, which doesn't seem as gimmicky as it does. Over the past ten years, Legos have shown themselves to be incredibly adaptable utility players. Since the release of "The Lego Movie" (2014), which became an immediate classic and a huge economic success, they have performed as Ninjas, Batman, and themselves. The movie was smart and creative, but the toy choice also worked because Legos are well-known, adored, and, most importantly, incredibly adaptable. The pleasure of Legos is their capacity to inspire creativity and mayhem, so there's no reason not to mix your Lego Star Wars and Lego Hogwarts sets in the shadow of your Lego Eiffel Tower with your little cousin's Duplo trucks.
The Legos are taking on a new task for "Piece by Piece": portraying actual humans. Recent years have seen an increase in animated feature-length documentaries; two notable examples are "Waltz With Bashir" (2008) and "Flee" (2021). However, in this case, the animation is purposefully aggressively nonrealistic. According to Lego jargon, the subjects—which include Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, and Daft Punk—appear as cylinder-headed, block-bodied minifigures. Sitting opposite one another, Minifigure Williams and Minifigure Neville discuss the film and Williams's life. We only ever see their Lego representations, with a few unique facial hairs or outfits, but the voices are real—Neville interviewed the many artists and colleagues that Williams has worked for and with.
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The playfulness is in keeping with Williams's style, which includes working with a wide range of artists to produce beats and albums, recording his own smash hit song, "Happy," and partnering on streetwear, fragrance, eyewear, footwear, and skin care lines. He is obviously always coming up with new ideas, and the movie tells the story of a man who is always coming up with ideas for remixing the universe. It's his sandbox, his playground. Legos are a perfect fit.
The animation has a strangely endearing affect that makes "Piece by Piece" more watchable than you may think. When Minifigure Snoop Dogg, whose collaboration with Williams on "Drop It Like It's Hot" brought Snoop his first number-one single, emerges in a cloud of marijuana smoke or when a rapper's music video is transformed using Legos, it's hard not to laugh.
Additionally, there is considerable freedom in how important events may be conveyed thanks to the animated style; for example, a Jay-Z performance where Williams performed felt less forced than it could have otherwise. The live-action style would not allow characters to turn in the middle of a reenactment and speak straight to the viewer. (Everyone is adorable, too.)
To be honest, their narrative isn't really compelling. Born in 1973, Williams grew up in Virginia Beach, where he attended the same high school as Timbaland, a.k.a. rapper and producer Timothy Mosley. Born with a passion for music, Williams spent his childhood creating it with pals before becoming well-known as a member of the production team the Neptunes, which he co-founded with Chad Hugo. (Hugho was interviewed for the movie and makes an appearance as a Lego, of course, despite his falling out with Williams.)
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