Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith Outperforms Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie’s Film on Rotten Tomatoes

Summary

• Prime Video’s adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith is far surpassing the original film on Rotten Tomatoes, with an impressive 87% Tomatometer rating at the time of this writing.
• The series features stunning cinematography and well-acted performances, but lacks some complexity.
• Donald Glover and Maya Erskine’s respective portrayals of the characters are garnering well-deserved attention.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie don’t have anything on Donald Glover and Maya Erskine where Mr. & Mrs. Smith is concerned. Prime Video’s small-screen adaptation of former super couple Brangelina’s 2005 film is far surpassing the original movie to the tune of nearly 30 points on Rotten Tomatoes. At the time of this writing, the critics’ reviews have resulted in an impressive 87% on the Tomatometer against 79 reviews.

Meanwhile, Pitt and Jolie’s collaboration from almost 20 years ago only registers 60% against 212 reviews. However, Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times does point out the lack of complexity in the otherwise well-acted series, which features some stunning cinematography. Roeper wrote in his review of Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith:

Donald Glover, Maya Erskine and an impressive roster of guest stars deny us the details in this gorgeously photographed and well-acted series.

Glover and Erskine take on the roles of John and Jane Smith, respectively, which were first brought to life by Pitt and Jolie in the feature film. Kathryn VanArendonk of New York Magazine and Vulture writes:

It’s… such a relief to watch a TV series that doesn’t strive for film-style plotting stretched over eight hours. There is some bumpiness in pacing and plotting, but Mr. & Mrs. Smith has a finely tuned sense of the world John and Jane are striving for.

Related Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Donald Glover and Maya Erskine Work Together in Brand-New Images, Prime Video Series Debuts in February Check out the new images of Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in Prime Video’s upcoming series Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which drops in February.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith Scores with Critics

Prime Video

While Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s film version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith was received with lukewarm reviews by the critics, the 2005 movie still became a box office success that amassed $487.3 million worldwide. But when it comes to receiving positive recognition from those critiquing both versions of the spy romance, the Prime Video series is winning hands down. Ben Travers of IndieWire writes:

“While a little too conventional at times and sputtering in places, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ is far more compelling than your average reboot of an action flick. So long as you’re not expecting more of the same, it’s worth giving this couple a shot.”

Belen Edwards of Mashable adds:

With Glover and Erskine as great as they are, and with a story that’s wonderfully self-assured in its own identity outside of the 2005 film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith makes for a darkly funny treat.

Donald Glover and Maya Erskine’s respective portrayals of John and Jane Smith are garnering a lot of attention from the critics and rightly so. And while their on-screen chemistry might not be as potent as Brangelina’s was in the 2005, Glover and Erskine are clearly the straws stirring the drink for the Prime Video series. David Nemetz of TV Line writes:

Erskine is fantastic in this, making a sizzling pair with Glover in a funny, breezy reimagining that’s half action-packed spy games and half cute rom-com, and equally adept at both halves.

Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe adds:

Glover and Erskine make a good pair of leads and a good pairing. They’re not 1,000-watt stars like Pitt and Jolie, and the absence of glamor makes their relationship more relatable.

Be sure to check out MovieWeb’s review of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. And all eight episodes are now available to stream or binge-watch on Prime Video, at the time of this writing. And be sure to check out the show’s official trailer below:

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