by Nick Nitkowski

Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve dabbled in stop-motion animation using LEGO bricks. I’ve spent many years creating various video projects. Some of which have seen great success on YouTube. Needless to say, LEGO has been a big part of my life for a long time, as I’m sure it has with many other people around the world. And yes, I’m a big fan of the LEGO movies that were released from Warner Bros. “The LEGO Movie 1 & 2”, “The LEGO Batman Movie”, and I even found enjoyment in watching “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” which I know is not many people’s favorite. But now it appears that the movie distribution rights have now fallen under Universal Studios which includes their other studio companies under their umbrella such as Focus Features.  So, while we may never get a third “LEGO Movie” or a sequel to “The LEGO Batman Movie”, I’m interested to see what they do with this property.

Turns out, the first thing that they chose to do under the LEGO Company was make a documentary telling the life of renowned music producer and artist Pharrell Williams. When I first heard this, I thought to myself, “That is a weird, but very interesting choice.” It certainly piqued my interest, and as a LEGO enthusiast, I was fascinated enough to give it a chance. Now that I’ve seen it, did it exceed expectations? Or did it fall apart piece by piece?

Well, you must have read the title because this was one of the best documentaries I’ve seen! And I’ve seen quite a lot of documentaries this year. But when it comes to LEGO-style documentaries, this one is the best by far, bar none. Yes, other LEGO documentaries exist. But while those focus on the creation of the LEGO brand, this one is solely focused on the life of Pharrell Williams. An odd connection between two things, I know, and yet, it somehow works well. 

The creativity behind the use of LEGO to tell this story is mind-blowing. They use unique LEGO designs to represent Pharrell’s music creations. And what’s more, is how they tackle certain age-restricted material. Particularly when Snoop Dogg becomes part of the narrative, which made me laugh hysterically. They really made sure that well making this documentary, they kept everything PG. When they featured certain songs, they definitely had to use the “clean versions”. There were some moments where they censored the word “shit” by using a LEGO piece with a poop emoji on it. Although, parents be warned, that they did let two or three uses of the word slip by uncensored.

This is a CG-animated LEGO movie and I was kind of bummed about that considering that they presented a stop-motion animation LEGO version of the “Wicked” movie trailer before the movie started, which I thought looked great. I know CG animation is somewhat cheaper and faster to produce than stop-motion animation, but the results speak for themselves. But it looked nice for what it was. I’m just biased when it comes to stop-motion vs CG animation.

As for the actual telling of Pharrell Williams’ life, it was very informative. Many people probably already know a lot about Pharrell Williams and his accomplishments beforehand. But as someone who didn’t know who he was before the release of “Despicable Me”, I was surprised to find out how big of a part he played in the musical industry and I was even more surprised to know which songs he had a part in. It was kind of like seeing him live a Double Life. I knew a lot of the songs that he was involved in; I just never knew that he had a hand in making them. Anyone without prior knowledge like myself will find this movie to be very informative. 

Overall, “Piece By Piece” was a very fun, fun, fun and pleasant experience. Not only did I learn more about Pharrell Williams, but with the use of LEGO to tell the story, it was also incredibly creative. It was visually mesmerizing and by the time the movie was over, I genuinely felt Happy. Anyone remotely interested in this documentary should get a pleasant experience out of it. And if you were on the fence, I would highly recommend giving this one a chance because I do not doubt that you will find something to enjoy with this film. I promise that this particular build does not fall to Pieces. No Frontin’, it is in fact a build that is a wonder to behold.

4.5/5 stars