Let’s face it, biographical documentaries can be a bit dull, presentation wise. There’s a standard template of using archive footage, cut with a number of talking heads about the person involved, and contributions from that person in question. And that’s a wrap.

When it came to delivering his own bio doc, producer and musician Pharrell Williams wanted to go a different route; he wanted his made out of Lego, just like The Lego Movie was. And because he’s Pharrell, this is it.

In fairness it plays out a little like a template as mentioned above, but the fact it’s made out of Lego makes it an incredibly visual experience.

There’s an interesting and entertaining dichotomy throughout as the film explores the music industry, especially the genre of rap, featuring talking Lego heads such as Snoop Dog and Jay-Z, presented in a children-friendly PG film. Neville acknowledges this occasionally, in a witty fashion, which only adds to the film’s overall charm factor. But despite the hard edges of the bricks, the approach to the subject matter is definitely on the soft side. But let’s face it, with the Lego brand front and centre, it was unlikely to have any brick-shaped F-bombs.

It covers the period of Pharrell at school in Virginia Beach, living in the Atlantis housing project with his parents, and meeting Chad Hugo, who he would go on to create The Neptunes with, as well as N.E.R.D. It’s also impressive that he hung out at school with the likes of Missy Elliott, Pusha T and Timbaland, who all feature, in Lego form, natch.

We follow the journey of a young Pharrell (who is now 51), throughout his career as a producer and solo artist and collaborator, right up to present day.

There’s an interesting and entertaining dichotomy throughout as the film explores the music industry, especially the genre of rap, featuring talking Lego heads such as Snoop Dog and Jay-Z, presented in a children-friendly PG film. Neville acknowledges this occasionally, in a witty fashion, which only adds to the film’s overall charm factor. It’s also a testament to both him as a director and Pharrell as an artist that many of these big names from the industry agreed to appear as Lego figures. Perhaps street cred in da hood means less than it used to.

You can certainly tell it’s a clever bit of filmmaking on Neville’s part, because not long in you see it less of a Lego movie about Pharrell, and more of a bio-doc pic that just so happens to be animated in brick form. On top of that, Neville also manages a few emotional moments too, which is some feat considering the medium he’s using.

It’s the type of film that you know will irritate someone like will.i.am who will have to explore other avenues for his own life story – maybe Croatian peasant puppetry is still available?

A hugely original approach to the documentary form, that is equally creative and informative, as the director pieces Pharrell’s life story together, brick by brick, making a superbly built documentary.