Donald Glover and Maya Erskine step into the titular roles most famously brought to the screen by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie back in 2005. (There was a TV series in 1996, but no one seems to remember that.) Some questions remain to be answered, Will this be another lazy reboot attempt? How will the movie translate into a series, and above all else, are the eight episodes worth your time?
Thanks to Amazon Prime, we have been lucky enough to watch the series, so let’s jump straight in and see what it is we can expect from Mr & Mrs Smith when it releases on February 2nd.
Re-imagining a movie with such broad appeal is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand you have a world reasonably fleshed out for you to operate in, on the other it can sometimes feel like one hand is tied behind your back because there is a world reasonably fleshed out already.
Mr & Mrs Smith walks the fine line well by basing in this world but playing heavily into the spy agency undertones of the movie.
Two strangers, seemingly alone to differing degrees, are looking for a new start. After a creepy interview, they are off to their new home and new lives. Having given up their identities, they are thrust into the world of international espionage and marriage. Meeting each other for the first time when exploring their new shared home, it is up to them to learn to live with each other while executing each mission assigned to them by the mysterious Hi Hi. Each episode sees the Smiths navigate a new mission and the new trials and tribulations that come with married life.
Created by Frencesca Sloane and Donald Glover, Mr and Mrs Smith may be set within the world of the 2005 movie but thankfully has taken a different direction. We are treated with John and Jane’s relationship from day one. Meeting each other without any previous contact, they quickly realise that they are beginning to develop real feelings for each other while being fake married, and despite the early reservations, they begin to work well as a team, fooling many around them into believing they are the real deal. Unfortunately, as the pressure mounts from failed missions and the realisation their relationship may have only been working because of the thrills they were experiencing, John and Jane must confront some genuine dangers directed at them and an uncertainty that divorce may not be an option.
Each episode does well to stand on its own as its own confined story, embellishing what has come before while leaving little hints on what is still to come. Setup can, at times, be a little slow because of this, but the only downside it gave me was an inability to want to binge-watch, which is not necessarily a bad thing, and at around 45 minutes each, they are the perfect length for a nighttime watch.
Mr & Mrs Smith is a refreshing, easy-to-watch show with elements of comedy, over-the-top action that plays into it and an underlying story of two people finding something or someone worthwhile in their lives to strive for. Never does it overstay its welcome, and with each episode introducing more fresh and fun characters, you never truly know what is coming next.
Mr & Mrs Smith is premiering on February 2 only on Amazon Prime. All episodes are dropping at release, so watch it at your leisure.
