| Creator | Francesca Sloane, Donald Glover |
| Cast | Donald Glover, Maya Erskine, Parker Posey, Wagner Moura |
| Episodes | 8 |
| Based On | Mr. & Mrs. Smith by Simon Kinberg |
| Genre | Action, Comedy, Drama, Spy Thriller |
There’s something oddly comforting about watching two dangerous operatives going through the boring ups and downs of everyday lives while living dangerously in their jobs. Of course, not everyone wishes to be a hitman as their day jobs but there are some out there, like John and Jane Smith in the 2024 Amazon Prime Video revival series based on the 2005 movie starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The newest venture is a funny and action-packed watch, one that will leave you feeling just a little confused and a whole lot entertained.
Mr and Mrs Smith starts off with the recruitment of our field operatives who work in the shadows and get instructions via someone who signs in saying “hihi”. It’s a bizarre and funny concept, one that keeps getting more and more bizarre as the episodes go on. The series gets its humour right and there are moments that will totally catch you off guard sometimes. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine play the perfect pair of operatives and gel with each other well. Their dry and serious tone works with the humour well and they look great together as well. The cinematography is excellent and everything looks super beautiful and adds so much flair to the action happening on-screen.
The action sequences are also well-done and smooth and there isn’t a second during it that you will find yourself bored or unengaged. Both the actors do a fantastic job during these sequences as well and will make you want to keep on watching! Apart from that, I think the small stories that we get in every episode are also interesting; although there is one common thread that binds everything together, namely their relationship, the jobs that they get bring flair and variation to the storyline. Although I wish the jobs that they do were a little more complicated or interesting, I think they achieve everything that they are supposed to.
What I found to be a bit odd in Mr and Mrs Smith is the relationship between John and Jane. I found it a little unbelievable that these two skilled people who are apparently strangers have no qualms about jumping into a romantic relationship that drives a wedge in their work sometimes. I guess it’s a bid to humanise them and not make them killing machines but I think listening to them constantly complain about something or another will get a little boring after a while.
There is an episode where they go to their therapist for relationship problems and although there are funny moments in the episode, it sometimes still feels very forced and annoying almost. However, Sarah Paulson steals the show in every frame so I can’t complain too much – she’s hilarious. I also didn’t really understand why someone like John would get into such a demanding job as this one considering the obligations that he has that become a hindrance to him giving it his 100%.
That being said, I think the relationship between the two of them does highlight some important issues that married couples do get into, especially when their jobs get super demanding and gives some great insight that one might find relatable.
I further found that the episodes felt a little disjointed. Although the smart and well-paced action-drama does a good job of bringing its ruthless assassins’ emotions to the table, it falls short of telling us the why and how of certain situations, making watching this a little… weird. At the end of 8 long episodes (!!), unfortunately, we get no conclusion, no real end. Just a major cliffhanger that makes us wait for more episodes in the future. I mean, you’d expect that after 8 episodes you’d get some sort of a conclusion. But it emotionally leaves you unfulfilled and technically just ends with a loud bang, literally.
Mr and Mrs Smith Review: Conclusion
Although enjoyable, the series ends up not ticking all of the boxes that you’d expect of a comedy-action spy thriller. Without making any comparisons with the original movie, the series feels a little all over the place and unfinished. Considering the long runtime, you’d expect it to discuss and dissect every little question that you may have about the series. Alas, that doesn’t happen. Either way, it’s definitely entertaining and does genuinely have moments wherein you’d find yourself laughing, so that’s great.
Mr and Mrs Smith will stream on Amazon Prime Video from February 02, 2024.
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