After dominating the airwaves this summer with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling,” the Black Eyed Peas could make a music video of them sitting around discussing Obama’s Nobel Prize and be assured millions of YouTube views. However, the quartet spared no expense for crafting the video for “Meet Me Halfway,” the third single off The E.N.D.
While few would criticize any video that features singer Fergie rolling around half naked, locating said rolling in some magical CGI forest seems unnecessary. No viewer’s going to pay attention to the environment around this gyrating temptress, so the almost-lifelike woodlands merely prove distracting. However, even that seems ecumenical next to rapper-producer will.i.am’s elephant-top joyride or rapper Taboo’s space mission around the sun.
“This is a very different type of video,” will.i.am has said. “'Boom Boom Pow' was very futuristic and 'I Gotta Feeling' had a party vibe, but this is more artistic video. It's very arty.”
Arty is one word for it, overblown another. Perhaps the group’s well-deserved swagger can be blamed for the video’s excess, but surely someone could have stopped director Ben Mor when he suggested dressing rapper apl.de.ap up as some sort of Tuscan Raider and having him conjure a space portal in the desert.
Fergie has said in past interviews that she wrote the song as an homage to Madonna and there is clearly something a bit “Material Girl” about the lavish production. Still, the video seems garish even for the Peas. Maybe it’s time to rethink that Peace Prize discussion after all.
Verdict: 2/5 stars
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