You’d think that Hollywood would know better than to try to re-create a film, and yet the 2024 version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith premieres February 2nd 

Mr. & Mrs. Smith stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as John and Jane Smith, two spies who agree to an arranged marriage. The series is a reimagining of the 2005 action comedy film of the same name starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The new Mr. & Mrs. Smith presents a few changes from the original, including how the Smiths first got together.

 Brooke Werner, the Senior, said: ” I remember growing up with the original Mr. & Mrs. Smith that had Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolene in it, and I loved it so much, but after hearing they were making a new one I wasn’t so sure it was going to be as good as that one, but I gave it a try, and it wasn’t too bad, but I will say that it couldn’t beat the original.”

In the 2005 film, Pitt and Jolie’s assassins are unaware that their partner is a spy. (John thinks his wife is a tech support consultant, while Jane believes her husband works in construction.) Alternatively, in Maya Erskine and Donald Glover’s new version, they begin the series as partners and are hired by a mysterious entity to pose as a married couple.

The series uses espionage as a big, occasionally violent playground in which to explore ideas about modern-day marriage. But in 2024, the landscape for two hot up-and-coming go-getter spies looks a little different.  

Isabella Betancur, Senior, Said ” Honestly I think I was one of the few people who actually didn’t find it completely awful, like don’t get me wrong it’s like the original in any shape or form but I think it does a good job in modernizing it which isn’t easy to do, so I feel like for that reason only I wouldn’t say it was that bad.”

Here, emotional connection and living authentically are luxuries the Smiths don’t even think to want. The weight of responsibility is no longer about maintaining your soul while deadened by the granite countertop heft of 2005’s suburban expectations. It’s that your dream life is so otherwise financially unattainable that you can’t have it without taking a job with a truly terrible work-life balance.

The series has far more bland conversations than tense action sequences, more awkward banter than witty repartee, and more staid dinner parties than dastardly criminal deeds. Glover is nothing but himself, and he has a distinctive, naturalistic, understated style. If you’re looking for the glamorous high jinx’s of a James Bond caper, this is not the show for you. Nor would Brad and Angelina fit into this world.