Prime Video’s new Mr & Mrs Smith are charming (review)

An electric couple for an exciting spy series full of good ideas.

The new neighbors are incredibly cool. They are beautiful, they are young, they are rich, they are stylish… Yes but there you go, they are fake! Mr and Mrs Smith form a false couple installed in New York by a mysterious organization. A duo who carry out various missions and whose marriage serves as a cover in the eyes of the world. Except that the bogus union will quickly turn into outright romance between John and Jane…

Not so much a remake of the 2005 film – which has become legendary since it was there that Brad Pitt fell for Angelina Jolie – this television variation is in fact much more inspired by the failed series from the 1990s, canceled after a handful of episodes. Scott Bakula and Maria Bello were the first Mr & Mrs Smith, two strangers associated by an intelligence agency and who would end up falling into each other’s arms. It is from this pitch that Donald Glover – co-creator, co-writer and co-director – imagined this Prime Video version that is devilishly exciting and overflowing with good ideas.

Starting with this Dantesque opening where the superstars Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies) And Eiza Gonzalez (Fast & Furious) do others Mr and Mrs Smith distraught, like a mirror of what the end of the series should be… With his mojo in Hollywood, the actor/rapper (also known as Childish Gambino) was able to bring in XXL guests in each episode. Take turns like this Ron Perlman, John Turturro or Sharon Horgan on the road of this couple of not really special agents.

These Mr and Mrs Smith are not relentless killers, nor peerless snipers, nor gifted martialists. They don’t have fancy gadgets or secret technologies. They can only count on cunning, their sense of infiltration and above all, they can count on each other to carry out their high-risk missions, which change from episode to episode. Fortunately, the alchemy between Donald Glover And Maya Erskine works at full capacity. Their complicity shines through the screen and their relationship is obvious. Charming to the core, these Mr & Mrs Smith have fun in what quickly takes on the appearance of a deadly game. A high-intensity, exhilarating, sometimes brutal and violent role-playing game. If we are never really in pure action, if the series does not aim for the same carnage as the 2005 film, it does not hesitate, nevertheless, to deliver its share of stunts on occasion.

The episodic format has the drawback of making the new couple lose momentum a little quickly. Once you understand the music, it tends to become somewhat repetitive. But it nonetheless remains highly entertaining. Because it’s full of discoveries and little, carefully thought-out details. These Mr & Mrs Smith are one of a kind.

Mr & Mrs Smith, season 1 in 8 episodes, to watch on Prime Video since February 2, 2024.