Movie Review: Piece By Piece

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A delightful music documentary. 

Making a music documentary as an animated LEGO movie is certainly a creative idea and it pays off quite well here. Though this movie follows the career of hip-hop artist Pharrell, more than just a recounting of a career this film is a testament to the power of creativity and the importance of being yourself. Having the film told in a type of toy that stresses both individuality and creativity drives these points home all the more closely. Because of this the use of LEGOs does not come off as a gimmick but an integral part of the film. The use of LEGOs also allows for some creative visual filmmaking. I love the way, when talks about seeing the music as he listens, we get visual representations of what this looks like. Also, the way he connects various LEGO pieces together as he is trying to come up with new beats, is wonderfully clever. Admittedly though some of the little cartoon-y gags involving LEGOs can fall a little flat and few of them really got a laugh from me. 

Once you get past the LEGOs this is actually a really a pretty standard music documentary. It is hard to fit a whole artist's career into the length of one movie. Because of this, parts of this film can fell a little rushed and I doubt any diehard fans will learn much new about Pharrell. However, for those like me who only really know the songs and little else, this gives a great overview of who the man behind the songs is. I felt by the end of the film, I had a basic idea who of who he was as both and artist and a man. While I wish it could have gone into greater detail, it does its job very well. 

This is a really fun, interesting and creative music documentary.