Review Revue: Critics React To Beyonce’s “Run The World (Girls)” Video

Robbie Daw | May 19, 2011 10:53 am

Beyonce’s latest single “Run The World (Girls)” may have stiffed on the charts, but that hasn’t stopped the 4 diva from dropping a boatload of cash into the production of the song’s girl power-infused music video. So was all the $$$ worth it in the end? We surveyed what the Internet at large had to say after viewing the pricey clip, and rounded up some of the best critiques below for you. Have at it! :: Entertainment Weekly‘s Music Mix noted the following: “Well, it’s not the epic battle of the sexes some expected, but Beyonce‘s new ‘Run the World (Girls)’ video is certainly a contender for best dance video of the year so far.”

:: E! Online gave Bey props: “For anyone still laboring under the illusion that Beyonce does not mean business, well, just watch this video. Described by B herself as ‘futuristic,’ ‘electronic’ and ‘African,’ the 29-year-old fused all that and more into a still remarkably cohesive music video…”

:: CBS News was also smitten: “We got to hand it to Beyonce, she’s asking the right question: Who will run the world? She’s got the right answer too… Girls! … Beyonce still has a smoking hot video that’s blowing up on the web and we can’t blame a girl for putting it out there.”

:: Vulture pondered the video with regards to the single’s sad fate on the charts: “So will this salvage ‘Run the World (Girls)’ from the lower bowels of the Hot 100? Not necessarily: If anything, the video just furthers the feeling that Beyonce released a third single — on which she’d be allowed to get this weird — before a first single.”

:: The Daily Mail focused on the style of dancing in the clip: “…it’s difficult to imagine that Riverdance star Michael Flatley would one day be a source of inspiration for the singer. The Irish dancing phenomenon has seemingly been given a whole new lease of life by Beyonce incorporating some of the rapid leg movements and high scissor kicks into the video…”

:: Pink Is The New Blog was certainly cutting a rug while watching: “As you might expect, ‘Run The World (Girls)’ is an over-the-top extravaganza but Beyonce busts out some of the sickest dance moves we’ve seen in any music video in YEARS! It’s a hot video, y’all.”

:: One person not impressed with the dancing was The Prophet: “The choreography itself is extremely hit-and-miss: there’s a unique, animalistic style to the moves — one minute it’s brilliant, like Beyonce is imitating a proud lion or a gorgeous gazelle, and the next she looks like a parody of a beaver or a bunny rabbit. And this certainly isn’t helped when Bey’s moves descend into the now tired routines of leg spreads and booty shaking that she’s been flogging for years.”

:: Prophet’s fellow Aussie blogger Pop Trash Addicts, however, couldn’t stop raving over the vid: “The cinematography is eerily beautiful and there’s a real sense of foreboding as the soldiers pile in, while warrior B stands on a burned-out car and her model friends, who prudently held on to their curling irons and couture after the apocalypse, writhe around in the desert. And then, at the 30 second mark, the queen of pop appears in that gorgeous red dress with a lion at her feet looking like something from a renaissance painting. By this point I had a semi and was about to faint from the sheer ferocity of my fave but it only got better.”

:: Perhaps the only person more enthusiastic after watching was pop starlet JoJo, who tweeted, “BEYONCE IS THE GREATEST. If you disagree, WE CAN FIGHT ABOUT IT. Lol. Her tireless work ethic + winner’s mentality inspires everything I do.”

What do you think — did the critics get it right? Were you as impressed with Bey’s latest visual as some of the above writers? Let us know below!