Britney Spears’ “Ooh La La”: Review Revue

Maybe we’ve all just grown accustomed to seeing Britney Spears pushing boundaries, but the pop provocateur is playing it safe on her Smurfs 2 soundtrack cut “Ooh La La” — and the critics have taken note. While they complimented the song’s sound, nobody seemed particularly floored by it — then again, nobody hated it, either, which is a good thing.

Head below to see how opinions varied.

:: Our friends at Spin liked it, more or less: “[I]t’s peppy, guitar-bursting dance-pop that shouldn’t overly upset Papa Smurf. After the ‘Britney, bitch’ swagger of ‘Scream & Shout,’ this one is decidedly PG-13, beckoning us to ‘come with me and be my ooh la la.’ Spears will still dance with us if we don’t wear ‘designer clothes,’ she promises.”

:: E! Online praised the track’s production for evoking classic Brit: “The catchy ditty layers Brit-Brit’s whimsical vocals atop upbeat electro bangers, while a rollicking guitar strums in and out. Consider it vintage Britney…with an oddly folksy pop-tart twist.”

:: Vulture compared it to Spears’ contemporary Ke$ha: “‘Ooh La La’ is undeniably reminiscent of ‘I Wanna Go,’ with a little Ke$ha influence thrown in there. She raps! Well, actually, she speaks: ‘Turn it up till the speakers pop.’

:: Our very own MuuMuse liked the track enough, but scaled back on his usual hyperbole: “It’s a shimmering, summery guitar-led track with a punchy pulse, very similar to Madonna‘s ‘Superstar’ off of MDNA (‘Ooh la la, you’re my superstar!’).”

:: Popdust noted comparisons to Katy Perry: “Word on the web is that ‘Ooh La La’ sounds exactly like a Katy Perry song, and while we wouldn’t exactly dispute that—it was written by Bonnie McKee, who penned some of Perry’s biggest hits—it does have an appropriately sugary take on EDM. No grime this time for Britney, and no Perry-style double-entendres either; this is a song from a kids’ movie, and it shows.”

:: Metro offered another idea for Britney to tackle (maybe on the next record): “So what’s ‘Ooh La La’ like? It’s a moody, stripped down little acoustic number, in which Britney meditates on ego and mortality amidst avant-garde instrumentation reminiscent of Bon Iver. Ha, no, it’s a bouncy summer pop song with agreeably nonsensical lyrics like ‘Baby, come with me and be my ooh la la.’ But wouldn’t my version be amazing?”

What do you think of the critics’ take? Tell us in the comments below, or hit us up on Facebook and Twitter!