Is the new Mr & Mrs Smith a sign of worse to come?
Amazon Primes’ series reboot of the 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith was released on the 2nd of February. Eight episodes, 45 minutes long, taking us along on the journey of John and Jane, two trained operatives applying for a covert agency that handles joint missions.
Before they were paired up, their paths wouldn’t have crossed, but as soon as they did, they were man and wife. That’s the cover. That’s the role. That’s the mission.
I can’t say I was intrigued when I heard this production was going ahead. I enjoyed the Jolie and Pit original. The premise was exciting, they had chemistry (clearly), and the story structure was entertaining and thought through. However, I didn’t quite understand why it was a concept that people thought needed a second wind. I am a fan (a big fan) of Donald Glover, so there was a chance he could pull this off, and even though I wouldn’t rush to watch it, one day, I may be looking for something new and be pleasantly surprised.
As the release date approached, more of the cast was revealed, and this is when I thought it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek at episode one. The first 5 minutes introduce us to another John and Jane in a life-and-death situation that they don’t make it out of. Then, we find ourselves with the beginning of a new John (Donald Glover) and a new Jane (Maya Erskine). They are interviewed, approved, and introduced to their new home and lives.
And it is pretty much downhill from there.
This may be the first time I have been shocked to my core by the calibre of the show I was watching. Since streaming became the norm, the demand for new content has lowered expectations for quality, but this was an all-time low for me.
The writing was uncomfortable and disjointed. The absence of story throughout and in each episode was dull and laughable (in an unfunny way). The non-existent chemistry between the two leads, and to be honest, most of the cast. The lacklustre missions and pointless conclusions. And the absolutely unconvincing portrayal of these two actors even being remotely passable as trained agents. I’ve never seen two people on screen who looked more awkward and unprepared for their role.
Like most people, I binge-watch content, and as I started watching this, I just wanted it over and done with. The idea that it would get better a few episodes in didn’t even cross my mind, but I didn’t think it would get any worse.
Cue for worse, much worse.
Around the halfway mark of the series and tiring from watching people phone in a performance, I started to think about the bigger picture, and my concern for that picture grew. This type of entertainment is becoming the standard for greenlit productions. The lack of effort and emotion from every scene and concept for the episode tells us we’re no longer trying, especially for something as high profile as this.
Today, stories don’t seem to be written with much purpose. Even if it is fun or frivolous, it should still have a reason to exist. These scripts seemed to be inspired by throwaway antidotes that you would find on a trend on social media or snippets that could be used as memes. Nothing had merit, no sentiment or incite is involved, and if we get a hint of it, there is no time to develop a connection or reaction to it because, as an audience, we no longer allow the time to invest in what we watch, which concludes in a lack of substance in our content, and the terrifying fact is when creatives stop catering to things like that, we submit to behaviour that shows no feeling or concern.
You know, the things that make us human.
I fear that once we remove the elements in our entertainment that bind us to something other than ourselves, we’ll forget what it means to care for one another. The more we want things now, the less it matters if it makes sense. The only ask from what we watch is that it includes something funny or shocking so we can talk about it and seem more relevant online.
If we chip away at what makes us human, we’ll lose our personalities, and only a facade will exist.
People in entertainment are businessmen who want to make money, and the state of the audience’s attention and focus is shifting our priorities away from decent and credible stories that make a difference.
No thought went into this project; that is clear, and it terrifies me because pretty soon, thinking won’t be a requirement at all
