Fans questioned why Pharrell Williams made his biopic a Lego animation but critics say it's way better than you'd think
Ayomikun Adekaiyero
- Fans questioned why Pharrell Williams chose to tell his life story with Lego in "Piece by Piece."
- However, critics said the Lego animation makes the film more than a formulaic music biopic.
Fans were confused when they learned that Pharrell Williams' biopic would be an animated Lego movie. But critics have said that while the film isn't perfect, the imaginative concept works.
In "Piece by Piece," which was released on Friday, Williams talks about his journey to becoming the producer of huge hits such as "Happy" and "Drop It Like It's Hot."
The film features interviews with Williams' collaborators, including Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay-Z.
In recent years, Hollywood has had some major commercial successes with biopics such as 2018's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which made $910 million at the box office.
Lego, a billion-dollar inflation-proof toy company, has also produced several box office hits, such as 2014's "The Lego Movie" and 2017's "The Lego Batman Movie."
Combining these two elements could be a smart business move on Williams' part.
In a video shared by The Hollywood Reporter on X, Williams said at the film's VIP premiere that he wanted to do something "that was reflective of me but an opportunity to be creative."
Here's what critics have said about the film.
But the Lego animation doesn't quite work for more serious moments.
Maureen Lee Lenker, a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, wrote that the Lego animation concept was "tonally dissonant in the documentary's more emotional moments."
She wrote: "Perhaps the most head-scratching moment is watching the Black Lives Matter protests transformed into Lego animation. What should be an emotional turning point for Williams in his life and careers is instead, well, cartoonish."
"Piece by Piece" is a fresh take on biopics, but could have revealed more.
Some critics praised "Piece by Piece" for having a fresh take on the music biopic/documentary genre.
Peter Debruge, Variety's chief film critic, wrote: "The Lego approach gives the film a far more imaginative visual range than traditional documentaries, even as it robs us of the thing we most want to see: human faces."
William Bibbiani, a critic for The Wrap, wrote: "'Piece by Piece' isn't about building up Pharrell's legend, it's about the value of hard work and personal growth.
"'Piece by Piece' uses whimsy to make these experiences entertaining, whereas many biopics fall into the trap of converting reality into dramatic contrivance."
But other critics disagreed. Lovia Gyarkye, a culture critic at The Hollywood Reporter, wrote that the film "can't quite avoid the trappings of the celebrity-produced biopic, and is expectedly marked by typical hagiographic evasiveness."
A common criticism of music biopics and documentaries is that they sanitize the artist or are too surface-level. Critics said "Piece by Piece" makes the same mistake by not offering much new insight into Williams' life.
Lenker, who called the film a "by-the-numbers" documentary, wrote: "The film's biggest disappointment is that it gives us no real insight into who Williams is and why he should be the subject of a documentary, even one as fantastical and playful as this is at times."
The film is family-friendly.
According to multiple critics, the film keeps things largely child-friendly (its rated PG) even when making allusions to marijuana and bleeping out expletives.
Bibbiani wrote: "'Piece by Piece' is designed with children in mind. It's a laid back storybook, with inspirational moments and surprisingly muted drama."
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