Rihanna’s “Where Have You Been” Video: Review Revue
Rihanna gets wet, dances in the desert and goes downright tribal in her dark and flashy video for “Where Have You Been”, a Dr. Luke and Calvin Harris co-production off the singer’s latest LP Talk That Talk. Online critics weighed in positively, for the most part, though there was one outlet that felt the visual wasn’t up to scratch — and one that lamented its lack of a certain Cheers star. Read our roundup of RiRi reviews below!
:: E! Online praises Rihanna’s newest visual: “The hitmaker has unleashed the music video for her latest single… And at first blush, RiRi is in fine high-energy form, as she thrashes and poses to a pulsating beat while singing about the true love she’s yet to find.
:: The Wall Street Journal praises the “impressive dance sequence, but notes the following: “In between dance numbers, fancy computer-generated imagery gives her multiple heads and arms — we’re not so sure those scenes were better than adding more footage of Rihanna dancing.”
:: The Huffington Post was also feeling RiRi’s fancy footwork: “Rihanna doesn’t normally do extended dance scenes, so it’s interesting to see the singer go the path of the Britneys and Christinas before her and delve into some deeper choreography.”
:: UK’s Mirror quips, “Rihanna’s always had the same view on clothes that we have on low fat chocolate — why bother?”
:: Entertainment Weekly‘s Music Mix is feeling shades of Bey: “…Rihanna takes a Beyonce-ish approach by anchoring exotic, variously costumed dance numbers. Themes range from tribal bonfire to that unfortunate rave scene in The Matrix Reloaded, but our favorite part comes at the 3:30 mark, when Rihanna’s inner Hindu goddess comes out once again.”
:: HitFix isn’t quite so wowed by director Dave Meyers’ effort: “Meyers’ team makes no qualms about making each locale look shallow, like a diorama from a museum, rather than sending the singer and her team out into an actual wilderness. What troubles the clip, however, isn’t the dance team’s navigation of these sets, but the director’s constant need to shake the frame or blur the focus, like the apocalypse from Britney Spears’ “Till the World Ends” apocalyptic journey.”
:: But MTV Buzzworthy gets to the heart of what’s really important: “I’m pretty sure the only reason Rihanna even makes music videos is to remind her adoring public that she is seriously hotter than 99 percent of the entire human race.”
:: Stereogum sums the whole affair up with this: “Remember the beginning of the ‘Black Or White’ video, where Michael Jackson is dancing on the African veldt? Well, that’s pretty much Rihanna’s video for the Talk That Talk club-jam ‘Where Have You Been,’ except that Rihanna’s video is (obviously) way, way sexier, and it sadly doesn’t feature an airborne George Wendt.”
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