Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Available on Amazon Prime Video

Given that the 2005 film on which it is based hardly set the world alight, it’s surprising that Mr. & Mrs. Smith was given the big-budget reboot treatment. Nonetheless, the premise of Doug Liman’s picture (which itself was based on a 1996 series) is solid enough - two unconnected loners decide to become secret agents for a mysterious organisation and are matched together as the Smiths, a suburbanite couple whose faux New York home is befitting of an Architectural Digest walkthrough. Naturally, it’s not long before the pair fall in love and calamity ensues.

For a series like this to work, you need a lead duo with palatable chemistry, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith is thus indebted to Maya Erskine and Donald Glover, the latter of which co-created this reset with Francesca Sloane. Both are sufficiently chic enough to complement the sleek aesthetic of the show and their solid comic timing makes their often taut exchanges all the more entertaining, particularly as their relationship begins to wilt under the strain of a career in espionage.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is also filled with fun cameos from talent as varied as Alexander Skarsgård, John Turturro, Michaela Coel, Paul Dano, Ron Perlman, Sarah Paulson, and Sharon Horgan in a manner that is not dissimilar to Rian Johnson’s Poker Face. Of these guest spots, it’s probably Parker Posey and Wagner Moura’s obnoxious rival agents that are the pick of the bunch, although it is mightily fun to see Dano play against type as the Smith’s ‘hot neighbour’.

While the series, like its aforementioned source material, has action sequences aplenty, these often feel secondary to the more compelling matter of the Smith’s love life, which is often presented in a manner that most couples will find relatable. Indeed, a criticism would be that, as you near the end of its eight-episode run, Mr. & Mrs. Smith seemingly feels the need to accelerate this dynamic in order to reach its expectedly combative ending, which feels detrimental to the arcs of both lead characters.

Nonetheless, Erskine and Glover’s shared magnetism means the first half of Mr. & Mrs. Smith more than makes up for the more formulaic episodes that inevitably make up its final act, leaving you with a surprisingly effective reboot.