In a dark room sits, Jane Smith (Maya Erskine), staring at an illuminated screen, sweating as she answers uncomfortable questions about her personal life. Is she working for the government? Is she on a match-making show? Is she a spy? Along comes John Smith (Donald Glover), answering the same questions.

This new Amazon Prime Video television series is heavily influenced by the original movie played by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Having never watched the original movie, I was excited to see Glover and Erskine, who have starred in their own television shows, now working together to create a comedy, action, and love story.

Jane and John introduce each other in a beautiful brownstone in New York City, where tensions are high. The private interview with the computer shows us that the Smiths have both worked in positions of power; John worked in the military, and Jane worked for the CIA. Jane and John discover that they are working undercover as a couple, and they will receive missions from “HiHi,” their presumed supervisor. The simple rules are that they must follow the mission orders to perfection, and three failed missions mean the Smiths have failed the company and will be marked for death.

The entirety of the show follows the pattern of the Smiths being assigned a mission and facing some type of struggle, whether with work or their relationship with each other. One of the parts I enjoyed is that whenever they face a challenge, they did not always do it perfectly or get a pass on their mission. Not many series show the protagonists failing, so I found this refreshing. As their occupation is one of their challenges throughout the show, the couple also faced sub-plot challenges, such as their overbearing neighbor. Jane finds the neighbor fun and interesting, while John thinks he’s suspicious, further creating turmoil within their relationship.

There were many songs that I was not familiar with, but one of the songs that caught my attention was “Future Lover” by Thee Sacred Souls. When this song played, I began belting out the lyrics as my love for the artist and the reminiscing of seeing them in concert less than two months ago came over me. The most emotional and romantic songs are played during intimate moments or when the Smiths worked at home. The variety of artists and musical genres ranged from Men I Trust to Mariah The Scientist, even featuring tracks in foreign languages. The foreign language songs were usually high energy and played in action scenes or tense moments where the Smiths narrowly avoid death.

The choreography in this show was remarkably executed. In the show’s fight scenes, the level of planning, attention to detail, and creative execution of combat choreography was palpable. The only drawback was the relatively few scenes that showed the Smiths’ fighting both their mission targets and each other. I wish there were more fighting scenes or, more specifically, scenes of the Smiths doing their missions, as we only got to see about 3-4 of them.

The cinematography of the series involves rapid changes in the perspective of different characters. In one of the final scenes, for example, where the Smiths have conflict, the camera point of view pans between Jane and John as they become increasingly aggressive towards each other. The rapid shifts in perspective of the camera do not cause any confusion. It reflects the original movie, where the Smiths begin pulling out weapons from hidden spots around the house.

The casting is quite minimal, as it mostly shows Glover and Erskine, but a few celebrity appearances from Sarah Paulson and John Turturro are the most notable. The chemistry between the characters is exceptional, and the comedy made light of uneasy situations.

As someone who did not watch the original movie, I found this series satisfactory as I had nothing to compare it to. The casting, comedy, and plot are perfect. Even with the few scenes being too short or long, that did not take away from the show too much. The overall show is enjoyable, hilarious, and tense throughout. I recommend this show to anyone interested in a remake of comedy and action.