Pharrell Williams plays with Legos

The Lego MoviePhil Lord and Christopher Miller's 2014 animated film challenged many preconceptions about what a film based on a toy line could be – and in doing so became a permission text for many mediocre to bad ideas. At the heart of these new misunderstandings was the idea that perhaps Lego wasn't just a brand of high-quality plastic building toys, and perhaps wasn't just the vehicle for a particular style of manic but self-aware comic animation that looks like stop-motion (is but it doesn't). Maybe it could serve as a whole new medium, man. It's still theoretically possible that Lego will one day produce an animated film that exists well outside of our established comfort zone with slightly diminished returns The Lego Batman Movie And The Lego Ninjago Movie and takes its own inventive path beyond family adventure comedies. The pop music puff piece piece by piece I would love to make this film now. Instead, it tells the pleasant but not particularly engaging life story of musician Pharrell Williams with the visual wit and whimsy of about one to three excellent music videos. It is 93 minutes long.

piece by piece is also rated PG, which is perhaps its biggest novelty: a documentary about the music business – and yes, although it is illustrated with animation, the backbone of the film is a narrative provided through real-life interviews, not through packed with Lego drama scenes – This is probably perfectly fine to show a second grader. Excerpts from this could work very well in an elementary school music class when the teacher needs a break near the end of the year, as Pharrell works unusually hard behind the scenes and director Morgan presents an overall wholesome image of Neville.

Pharrell starts out as a music-obsessed boy in public housing, makes music with high school friends that include Chad Hugo, moves into beatmaking and producing with Hugo as part of the Neptunes, and ends up being involved in some of the bands biggest and most influential pop hits the 2000s and beyond, but also longs to create his own sounds. Collaborators/superstars/colleagues such as Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z and Timbaland all give interviews, which are rendered in Lego form. Pop hits come together in the soundtrack.

For aspiring music nerds, the film could be quite transformative, or at least somewhat inspiring. For others, it could be a disruptive factor for all ages. (This is a film starring Snoop Dogg, in which a smoky studio must be locked down due to “PG spray” to avoid the wrath of the MPAA.) As a document of the creative process, it tends toward vagueness; It's nice to see various Beats as semi-abstract, shiny Lego constructions that fit in the palm of a minifigure, but it doesn't provide many concrete details about how Williams implements his youthful fascination – and his synesthesia, the condition that helps his music obsession – into living, breathing works of art or how his personal expression merges with his obviously zeitgeisty instincts.

However, the film takes time to wonder about Pharrell's side hustles in fashion and other brand partnerships, always only slightly suggesting that these may have served as a distraction from his music. About the time when piece by piece begins to drive the worldwide success of the song “Happy,” which expresses the revolutionary idea that happy is and also beautiful. Viewers may be wondering if it's a cartoon biopic that depends on writing someone else's theme song. Published by the studio's parent company, the cartoon really taps into the depths of creativity and inspiration it promises.

There are many temporary visual distractions piece by pieceand even some clever formal touches, like computer-animated Lego scenes that mimic the presence of handheld cameras. Williams himself always seems to be a nice, smart and creative guy. But the film's impressive roster of talent amounts to a few minutes each of various talking head minifigures, and there's as much branding (are these characters depicted as Lego BrickHeadz?!) as invention. Shouldn't a movie made of virtual Lego bricks about an obsessed music producer have a touch of madness, no matter how innocuous it may be? Instead of forging a new path for Lego cartoons, this might be the first one that feels like it's sticking too closely to the instruction manual.

Director: Morgan Neville
Authors: Morgan Neville, Jason Zeldes, Aaron Wickenden, Oscar Vazquez
With: Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland
Release date: October 11, 2024