Piece by Piece (2024) Review: Does This Lego Documentary Make Us Happy?
Copyright © Focus Features, The Lego Group, Tremolo Productions, I Am Other
Title: Piece by Piece (2024)
Director: Morgan Neville
Release Date: October 11, 2024
A music documentary biopic animated with Legos was one of the least expected ideas to come out this year. When someone hears the terms "documentary" or "biopic", they think live-action as in involving the real singers. On the other hand, Lego animated movies started off with The Lego Movie until it got further and further into whatever this is. What a strange idea! For this review, today's movie is Piece by Piece, the new animated Pharrell Williams biopic documentary! With a budget of $8.1 million, the movie surprisingly grossed $16 million, marking this movie a box office success. Not only that but it also gained positive reviews from both critics and audiences, particularly for its vibrant animation as well as the star-studded voice acting and catchy songs. Thanks to the big use of creativity using the Lego product for a singer biopic, Piece by Piece is a colorfully impressive story that builds about how Pharrell Williams rose to fame.
Summary
Animated through LEGO bricks, it tells the story of singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, as he grew up loving music as a child in Virginia. It all grew up with him in order to transform him into a successful figure in music as well as fashion.
Reasons
The top beats to come out of Piece by Piece are the creative expression, animation, and messages. At first glance, it might seem strange at first for a music biopic to be animated by a kids toy. The final result says otherwise as it uses the Lego toy in an extremely creative way possible. They are here to visualize what the thoughts are going on about like how music is made and how people praise Pharrell's music production. Speaking of which, the animation is another top notch result. It happened with The Lego Movie franchise already, so this one is not going t be anything different. Even though this is CGI, the animators did a wonderful job with the stop-motion feel and the lighting. Because this is used as the primary creative choice, it does not feel any distracting, since this is how Pharrell wanted the movie to be like. The final part of the top batch, the messages, are executed well. Coming from a movie like this, the main message is about getting inspired by your life to put in your creativity, which surprisingly worked a lot. There are also some other messages, like not giving up and being thankful of what you have, and they fit well into Williams' path to success in the entertainment industry.
Adding on, a few other great beats from Piece by Piece include the subject, songs, and humor. Since there is BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky and Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me already, Pharrell Williams would be another great singer to cover! He became famous through the songs, "Get Lucky," and on a more significant note, "Happy," making him known to the public today. Plus, he had interactions with other famous singers like Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, and so many more. Having mentioned two of his hits already, the songs are catchy as expected from the legend Williams. Like with most animated movie musicals, most of them are existing songs. Some examples include "Happy" and "Get Lucky" by Pharrell Williams, as well as hits by other singers like "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg and "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani. There are also a few songs that were specifically written for the movie, most notably "Piece by Piece" itself, which is a epic and catchy banger. Finally, the humor is spot-on for a Lego movie, again. In particular, there are crude references but they are toned down in a family-friendly way, like the "PG spray" and the parents' reactions to Williams' music videos at home. Aside, there are some one-shots in the dialogue and a little bit of creative gags. The humor makes the movie less serious, so that the kids can get a laugh.
Piece by Piece is already an impressive movie but it does have some small flaws which are rather optional: the easy-to-tell signs that it is CGI and the potential for a more deeper dive into Pharrell Williams' life. Warner Bros' Lego Movie franchise did do the same by animating the Legos in CGI. Similarly, Pharrell Williams wanted more creativity, so the animators would have to go off their limits to do so. Also, the film can include more about Pharrell Williams, since it is about him after all. Not his whole life but some more facts about his career would be added in the journey.
Conclusion
The level of creative expression and messages build Piece by Piece into a colorfully impressive document about how Pharrell Williams became a popular singer. In the advertising, it may seem like an odd film that came out of nowhere. However, it is actually way better than the advertising made us thought it would result in. This movie shows how the Lego animation shows how artistic and meaningful Williams is when he is writing his own music. Definitely watch this, especially if you are a big Pharrell Williams fan or a Lego fan, but beware that there are some crude jokes if you have kids. Overall, your kids should be fine, since the Legos will make them happy piece by piece.
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