The new animated Lego movie, “Piece by Piece,” is a documentary produced by Pharrell Williams and follows his rise to fame. Parents beware: despite the kid-friendly animation and musical elements, the documentary structure might be unexciting for younger audiences.
“Piece by Piece” is an animated highlight reel of Williams’ rise to industry prowess, using his greatest hits as the soundtrack. He goes from being a middle school band kid to starring in and producing numerous hit singles, but the Lego documentary glosses over Williams’ triumphs and tribulations with surface-level detail.
Like most celebrity documentaries, “Piece by Piece” bounces back and forth between talking heads and vintage b-roll, with Lego animation replacing live-action footage. A scene of minifigure Williams preparing for his interview shines by rebuilding a documentary stereotype with Legos. The vibrant animation brings Williams’ creative genius to life with every beat of his music exploding in colorful bursts.
Handheld shots and intense studio lighting shatter previous Lego animation boundaries, creating a look more like real life than more realistic look than “The Lego Movie” or “The Lego Batman Movie.” While those films were notable for including numerous unexpected characters like Dumbledore and Wonder Woman as minifigures, “Piece by Piece” does the same with celebrities. Jay Z, Gwen Stefanie, Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg are just a few A-list stars reimagined as Lego pieces.
The opening credits kick off with Williams traveling back to his childhood, picturing himself as a glowing, guppy-like sea creature frolicking around the underwater kingdom of Atlantis with Poseidon and a golden whale. It’s a gorgeous sequence that sets the tone for this feature that prioritizes its unique style over an intricate story. Williams mentions his fascination with water at the beginning of the film and frequently returns to this theme, whether it be on moonlit beaches or roaring riptides. But — similar to many subplots of the film — this interest is never expanded on or explained further.
The film highlights hit songs with fantastically animated sequences, offering few insights into Williams’ life. It shows him growing up in the vibrantly-depicted Atlantis Projects in Virginia Beach with a marching band that frequently erupts into song and dance. In high school, Williams forms his band, The Neptunes, and signs a music contract at a talent show. However, a more interesting plot point explaining how they got out of that contract is, unfortunately, never explored. His in-film conflicts instead come from spending all his money, not getting enough attention and being overly friendly, all of which are justified by Williams being “special.” But it’s hard to sympathize with him as he struggles with success while on a private beach behind his lavish mansion. As a valued advocate in the Black Lives Matter movement, Williams’ activism deserves more screen time. The film would benefit from a greater focus on Williams the human versus Williams the pop star.
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville has previously focused on beloved legends such as Mister Rogers and Darlene Love, before turning to more contemporary icons like Anthony Bourdain. Unlike those other subjects, Williams is only 51, actively working and shows no signs of slowing down. He’s still dropping hit after hit and making music for the “Despicable Me” franchise. His accomplishments have not aged enough to inspire nostalgia from audiences, nor does Williams seem ready to openly share his story, warts and all. In some ways, “Piece by Piece” feels like an in-memoriam retrospective for someone still alive which feels like a false conclusion to Williams’ career.
Even though the overly-sanitized narrative misses an opportunity to show the grit behind Williams’ pop-star persona, it’s great to have a new theatrically released Lego movie for the first time in nearly six years. Scenes stand out with lively animation and plenty of minifigure cameos featuring Williams’ superstar friends. For those looking for an upbeat movie with a killer soundtrack and exciting Lego animation, “Piece by Piece” offers 90 minutes of escapist entertainment worth dancing to.
