14 DAY TRIAL // After weeks of teasing on Twitter, Britney Spears fans can rejoice: the official, full-length video for her first single of the “Femme Fatale” album, “Hold It Against Me,” is out. You can also see it at the end of the article.
Directed by the famous Jonas Åkerlund, who has previously worked with Madonna and Lady Gaga, on choreography by longtime Britney collaborator Brian Friedman, the video is literally a frenzy of images and splashes of color.
In a futuristic world where dance seems to be the only constant, Britney is the center of all attention: for that, she wears some crazy outfits (including a dress that helps her “give birth” to dancers) and breaks out her older moves for energetic dance routines.
There’s also a segment in which a high-fashion-clad Britney gets physical with another Britney. As punches fly to the right and left, and 10-inch heels are used as weapon in the fight, one can’t but admire the attention to detail that Åkerlund pays.
The production on the video is quite impressive – a perfect match for the Dr. Luke and Max Martin-produced record-breaking song, voices online are already saying.
However, there are also those who believe the video was overhyped, especially given what Friedman was saying in pre-release interviews about how the video would make Britney the Princess of Pop again by showing the world that she remained the best dancer out there.
Music blog ToyazWorld, for instance, thinks that Spears’ camp over-sold the video because it built up expectations that it certainly does not match. The overall result is amazing – but Britney’s involvement in it certainly isn’t.
“He consistently told fans that Britney’s old swagger and dance savvy self was back but this video proved otherwise. The way he overhyped it, you’d think her dancing would have been up to par from what she did at her Onyx tours,” ToyazWorld says.
“The dancing is pretty much the same as her ‘Blackout-Circus’ era post breakdown. It was lazy and robotic. Most of her dance scenes were so cut and spliced that we don’t even know for sure if she was doing exactly what she wanted us to believe she was doing,” it is further said.
“The camera angles, as well as her background dancers were doing all the hard work to disguise her limitations. The set and overall production of the video looked amazing. Actually, everything about the clip was amazing – but her,” the music e-zine notes.
Of course, fans are free to disagree on that Britney Spears seems to have lost that “spark” that motivated her some years ago and that shone through whatever she did.
Below is the full video for “Hold It Against Me”: watch it and judge for yourself.