The Mr. & Mrs. Smith Movie Hits Very Different After This Year’s 90% Rotten Tomatoes Success

In early 2024, Amazon Prime Video released a new television adaptation of the 2005 spy romance movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, and after its immense success, the original movie does not hit the way it used to. The first Mr.& Mrs. Smith initially came out in the summer of 2005 and starred Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as the titular couple, a married pair who are hiding their careers as spies from each other until they are assigned the same job, and after failing, are tasked with killing each other.

2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith was a huge success upon its release. On a budget of $110 million, the movie grossed $487 million at the box office. Aside from its financial gains, Mr. & Mrs. Smith was also generally liked among critics and audiences, earning a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. Generally, viewers found Mr. & Mrs. Smith to be an incredibly fun, action-packed movie that was only made better by the incredible chemistry between Jolie and Pitt. On the other hand, the movie was criticized for not being especially deep or new, and putting action over story.

The Mr. & Mrs. Smith Movie Isn’t As Good As The Amazon TV Show

2024’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith elevated the story

Despite the fact that 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith was well-received when it first came out, the new 2024 adaptation has arguably shot the movie out of the water. Suddenly, the critiques made about the original film seem much more glaring when compared to the incredible work put into Prime Video’s television series. For the most part, this quality difference has to do with the story. As previously mentioned, 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith was criticized for its weak storytelling, and as it turns out, this is a problem that 2024’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith does not suffer from at all.

Where 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith jumps right into the lives of the titular characters without much preamble, 2024’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is different. Jane and John’s backstories are revealed, and audiences meet them as they first meet each other. One significant difference as well is that Donald Glover and Maya Erskine’s Smiths are purposely put into a partnership, whereas Jolie and Pitt are spies unbeknownst to the other. This change creates a new dynamic that is arguably more interesting to watch. Audiences not only learn more about their jobs, but about Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s cast of characters too.

One Way The Mr. & Mrs. Smith Movie Is Better Than The TV Show

The action is different between the Mr. & Mrs. Smiths

Although 2024’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith elevated the source material in just about every way, there is one aspect of the movie that may still win out.

Glover and Erskine succeed in their moments of combat, both against enemies and each other, but in many ways the movie does a better job of creating epic action moments, especially by Angelina Jolie, who is a known action star. So, at least in that respect, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith movie still holds up.