Piece By Piece [Blu-Ray]

Director: Morgan Neville

Cast: Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar (VOICES)

Release Date: December 17, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Piece by Piece is an unparalleled motion picture experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music’s most innovative minds.

‘Piece by Piece’ invites viewers on a unique type of experience as it chronicles the life and career of music icon Pharrell Williams entirely told in the form of LEGO animation which brings a colorful and imaginative look at a true story like you’ve never seen before. The film follows Pharrell from his younger days as a boy and through his days of childlike dreaming to the beginnings of a career in music, and amid all of the ups, downs and key events in his life that combined brought him to where he is today.

Directed by Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) who does a fantastic job at the helm of ‘Piece by Piece’ guiding along this unique biopic beautifully and maximizing its beauty and wonder through the lens of LEGO animation. The film features the voices of numerous noteworthy stars and icons portraying themselves including Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg and more who each contribute nicely to this unusual, yet endearing look at the life and career of Pharrell Williams.

‘Piece by Piece’ is a uniquely crafted and incredibly enjoyable look at the true story of the life and career of Pharrell Williams which is told from the point of view of an interview and presented completely in the form of LEGO animation. It’s an unusual approach and one that many viewers (myself included) may have been somewhat hesitant on when the first Trailer was unveiled, but as opposed to hurting the true tale or conflicting with the realistic elements within, it somewhat surprisingly only enhances it on nearly every level with some more lighthearted vibes, an abundance of bright, warm color and a unique, yet familiar take on the various real individuals that are featured within.

In addition to the almost childlike wonder and freedom that ‘Piece by Piece’ revels in thanks to the interesting approach, it also conveys a beautiful message or two along the way without ever making it feel like it’s trying to teach or force anything on you, instead arising simply as part of the narrative’s course as it explores the various stages of Pharrell’s life and personal journey. It’s a moving, often fairly funny and always entertaining true tale that offers something slightly different from the norm and the result is a rewarding and heartfelt journey that’s worth taking.

Overall, ‘Piece by Piece’ is a delightful, wondrous and imaginative take on the biopic that offers a fun, colorful and just downright enjoyable look at the life and career of music icon Pharrell Williams as told entirely through LEGO animation. An unusual but surprisingly delightful manner in which to do so as it turns out which really does a magnificent job of amplifying the heart and colorful world it explores. ‘Piece by Piece’ is definitely recommended to any fans of the man who’s life it explores, as well as anyone else that might appreciate a light-hearted, humorous and immensely enjoyable biopic told through Lego Animation. If it’s already caught your interest whatsoever, this one is worth taking the time to give a chance and just might surprise you with how clever and fun it manages to be from start to finish.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Piece by Piece’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic as a whole and delivers a clean, sharp and richly colored presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any unexpected issues to be uncovered along the way. It offers great detail that allows almost every aspect of the LEGO animation to shine and look clean and gorgeous down to nearly every animated line and the colors almost seem to burst from the screen with their vibrancy. Overall, this is a great high definition presentation that holds up marvelously throughout and should easily please fans and first time viewers alike.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack is a blast itself and it provides a clean, crisp and notably immersive audio presentation throughout. It takes advantage of all seven available channels quite regularly in order to send the music, along with dialogue and random effects moving throughout the various speakers the majority of its runtime. All the while it never contradicts or negatively affects any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a wonderful Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack that more than holds up and enhances the onscreen fun and excitement throughout.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Piece by Piece’ features one extra in the way of the brief Behind the Scenes Featurette ‘Building the Story’ (running approximately 3 minutes in length) which features interviews/comments with Pharrell Williams and director Morgan Neville.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Piece By Piece’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Focus Features & Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘Piece By Piece’ on Blu-ray on Amazon HERE!

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