RELEASED almost 20 years ago, Mr and Mrs Smith brought Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt together while simultaneously delivering a fun action comedy film that was a delight to watch purely due to how fun its two leads played off each other.
However, under the lens of scrutiny, the film falls apart due to its flimsy story and one dimensional characterisations of the Smith spy couple.
Donald Glover, who stars in the upcoming Amazon series remake of the film, shares his opinion.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly (EW), Glover admits that he only very recently watched the original prior to developing the remake series.
“I watched it and honestly, I was like, ‘I don’t understand it. I mean, I get why it’s iconic because of the people starring in it — it’s just two gorgeous people in this situation. But the story I didn’t quite understand,” he told EW.
Due to how Glover’s mind works, he decided to reimagine the story at a deeper level that tackled modern notions of marriage and relationships.
“Why do people even get married anymore? Half of it ends in divorce — what’s the purpose?” Glover said.
The idea for the new series was then conceived, focusing on what a marriage is, trust, teamwork and loneliness.
Starring Glover and Maya Erskine, the new Mr and Mrs Smith will have a new narrative different from the film that inspired it.
In the series, the duo play lonely strangers who sign up for a mysterious spy agency, with their new assigned identities being those of a married couple.
As the arranged “marriage” gradually becomes something real, there is an existential dread of trust when their relationship was built on lies from the get-go.
Being the show’s co-creator, Glover is fine with the show evoking strong reactions from viewers, as long as they are not bored.
“I just know how much people love the other one, so if everybody’s like, eh, we didn’t do a good job. I hope some people are like, ‘This is better than the original’ and some people are like, ‘This is far worse’.”
The new Mr and Mrs Smith will air all eight of its episodes next year, Feb 24 on Prime Video.
