I love agent series, but they usually suffer from pretty lame heroes. Completely unexpectedly, Amazon brings you a genre highlight that you have to see with the reboot of the action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith
I’ve seen all the popular agent series in recent years: Reacher, The Night Agent, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, and whatever they’re all called. There’s something about these agents – these professionally charismatic and resilient men in dangerous situations. But after watching them, I always have an unpleasant feeling: there could have been more.
Of all things, the action comedy reboot of the completely over-the-top 00s film Mr. & Mrs. Smith is my salvation. If someone had told me that a week ago, I would have smiled wearily. And then I watched the first episodes. From today you too can stream the first season of Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Amazon.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Amazon is better than The Night Agent, Reacher & Co. – because it’s more than an agent thriller
The 2003 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith has cult status. Not because it is particularly good, but because Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, perhaps Hollywood’s biggest stars at the time, met and fell in love during filming. They play a killer couple who have yet to discover each other’s identity. Sparks fly and bullets fly.
The new series Mr. & Mrs. Smith does things a little differently: here, the two agents knowingly enter into a marriage with the other spy without knowing each other beforehand. They get a marriage certificate, guns, a beautiful house and risky assignments. Although they make a pact not to have sex and to keep it a business relationship, the plan is already ruined in episode 2. The comedic agent thriller becomes an entertaining mix of conventional agent action, cringe workplace comedy à la The Office and a fantastic love story between John and Jane Smith.
(Mr. & Mrs. Smith: a love story disguised as agent action)
The two lovers (and quarrellers) are played by Community and Atlanta star Donald Glover and PEN15 creator Maya Erskine. Rarely have I seen such smashing chemistry from second 1. Both their comedy timing when they have to choke together while breaking bones and their erotic attraction when they rip each other’s clothes off while watching cartoons is spot on.
Season 1 of the series is divided into the stages of a love affair. We have the first date, the second date, the kid question, couples therapy and more. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a love story charged with extremely entertaining agent action.
This is what I’ve been missing: Mr. & Mrs. Smith makes full use of the case-of-the-week principle
They not only tackle a new relationship phase in each episode, but also a new case. And this so-called case-of-the-week principle is a blessing for the series. It is allowed to go wild and uses each new case to get to know John and Jane Smith better in these absurd situations. They don’t have to save the world every time like Peter Strickland in The Night Agent or Jack Ryan. It’s hard enough not to shoot each other as a killer couple.
I love shows like Supernatural and The Blacklist that dedicate each episode to a different case and Mr. & Mrs. Smith brings that to the agent genre in a big way.
The cases are extremely funny when guest star Ron Perlman acts like a petulant child as the person to be protected and won’t take his medicine. They are disturbingly bizarre when they accidentally kill their target with an overdose of truth serum. They’re also incredibly awkward when they sit on the couch in couples therapy with guest star Sarah Paulson and bicker at each other point blank. As you can see, the series has no shortage of ideas and certainly no shortage of fantastically chosen actors:inside.
(Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Buck Ron Perlman is taken away)
My favorite episode is the chance encounter with another killer couple, played by charisma slingers Parker Posey (Lost in Space) and Narcos lead Wagner Moura. Like two children craving praise, our two agents throw themselves at their more experienced colleagues. This is extremely unpleasant in an extremely entertaining way.
Not only are surprising guest appearances made possible by the case-of-the-week principle, but the change of location in each episode also makes Mr. & Mrs. Smith unique in the agent genre: they are snowed in at a ski hotel, shoot their way along Lake Como in Italy and much more. The show value is boosted by this and clearly sets Mr. & Mrs. Smith apart from the CGI monotony of the series’ competitors.
