'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' (2024) - Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 + a discussion on the portrayal of pregnant women/mothers in 'Atlanta'.

He is the smooth-talking, whiskey drinking, charming secret agent who enjoys yoga and keeping in touch with his mother. She is the cold, reserved, sociopath that requires truth serum to reveal her true emotions. Meet John and Jane Smith, your average computer- software- err engineers.

Charmingly witty and dramatic, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is Amazon Prime Video’s reboot of the 2005 action film that conceived the culture-defining relationship: Brangelina. This time around, the narrative throws some new punches.

‘Three strikes and you’re out’

Donald Glover and Maya Erskine star as John and Jane, spies taking down assailants under orders from their elusive boss, ‘HiHi’, who solely communicates via AI chatbot and has a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ rule when it comes to failing missions. This is glossed over at first, but when the arranged couple start establishing real feelings for one another and missions become more high risk, they have to ask what this really means.

The cinematography provides an interesting visual to the fast-paced action. Seeing the backdrop of azure Italian skies behind our beloved Smiths screeching around corners in car chases keeps the potentially repetitive action more enticing than it sounds. The series could have easily fallen into the formula of the couple finding a target, eliminating said target, and the consequences within the relationship for each episode – but it doesn’t.

Donald Glover slips into the rom-com boyfriend character seamlessly, from arguing with Jane, to strolling hand-in-hand around New York City markets, John’s warm charisma settles the dust after climactic tense moments post-arguing with his “wife”.

Fans of Glover know he creates shows without clear-cut explanations, using surrealism as his main tool. For Mr. & Mrs. Smith, he paired with the talented crew of his 2016 comedy-drama Atlanta again to add some parallels to the 2024 series. One of these similarities is the bizarre interactions from star-studded cameos.

The cameos, however exciting, can sometimes stunt the action

The cameos, however exciting, can sometimes stunt the action (pun absolutely intended). This is noticeable in moments but not wholly distracting, thanks to the incredible dialogue, locations, and successful character progression within the first few episodes. I was fully immersed in the Smith’s world of high-octane action before scream-queen Sarah Paulson crops up out of nowhere. Her performance was immaculate as the hippy-go-lucky couple’s therapist as the Smiths use mundane phrases to explain their extraordinary professions.

But then, a roadblock occurs with a plot point halfway through the series. Jane must make a defining decision: should she continue being a spy, or give up her livelihood to be a pregnant woman?

Pregnancy and motherhood in Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Atlanta

After establishing a natural and very enjoyable chemistry between the two protagonists, this decision tarnishes this effort. The fallout of this is also mishandled by the writing of John’s character accusing his wife of being an uncaring partner, and for that matter, friend, and daughter.

From then on, Jane is portrayed stereotypically as the brain behind John’s brawn; restraining her character’s full potential of the violent and calculated secret agent, reducing her to a purely (anti-)maternal role. However, this is not new and has been a stereotype within many other sitcoms and dramas. Even from Glover’s own show, Atlanta, that pigeon-holed the only main female character, Van, in the season three finale. Zazie Beetz’ character frequently expresses the feeling of wanting to be ‘more than just Lottie’s Mom’ all the way through the show, and never really gets her own prolonged moment to shine as a character. It can be argued that this is because she isn’t in the main trio that the seasons are focussed around, but, still, Van’s dismissal as ‘just a mother’ is repeated on multiple occasions.

Aside from this, Mr. & Mrs. Smith provides a thrilling breath of fresh air from the original film. The series deepens the characters and this dynamic is one of the main watch-worthy elements. The moments of touching romance and relieving comedy break up the action-packed scenes of car chases and combat that anyone would expect from a spy series.