Entertaining, but isn't all that different from other movies in the genre

Rating: 6/10 (8 August 2005)

All you read or hear about this movie has something to do with the possible affair between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and it's sometimes very hard to find some decent reviews in the magazines. That's why I didn't exactly know what to expect before going to the cinema to watch this movie. I already figured out that it wouldn't be a romantic comedy (I still find it a typical title for such a movie), but that it would be an action filled comedy. But that was all that I knew about it and I just gave it a try, hoping for the best.
When the movie starts, we see John and Jane Smith sitting in the office of a marriage councilor. They have been married for 6 years now and they admit that they are bored by their average married life. But what they don't know is that they both have a secret life. They are both assassins who travel the world to kill for money. But when they are both hired to kill one person, they get in each other's way without knowing it and blow the job. Now they are told to go after the person who was the cause of their failure, making them find out that it's their own spouse they are after...
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is a typical Hollywood action movie. The car chases are incredibly fast and well orchestrated, the explosions are gigantic, the bullets seem to fly around your ears by the millions and they use plenty of gadgets that would make James Bond blush like a little schoolgirl. That's not exactly what I'm normally looking for in a movie, but in the end it's still enjoyable and the actors have a lot to do with that. If it wasn't for these two pretty actors, this movie would be a typical action flick that would have gone by unnoticed. Because, let's be honest, do you really believe that this movie would have drawn such a crowd if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie hadn't played the leading roles in it? Jolie is the only reason why all men want to see it and only because Brad Pitt is playing in it, their wives or girlfriends are willing to go with them. And my own experience only proves it. To give you an example of what I consider to be a large crowd: it was very difficult to find a seat in the enormous room while they played it in three different rooms at the same time. I would say that that must be enough room for approximately 1,000 people and it was full of men and women.
Personally I must say that I liked this movie most for the humor. Thanks to the several witty remarks from both characters and the absurd situation of two assassins sitting in front of a marriage councilor without knowing who their partner really is, was really funny. In my opinion it saved a lot of this otherwise poor movie. I say poor, because it relies more on the marketing around the possible affair than on a decent script. I know that this is an action movie and that such movies don't exactly offer the most intelligent stories, but I've already seen a lot better action movies in the past. Take for instance "The Rock", that was a movie full of action too, but the story worked.
In the end it isn't a bad movie, but it is a typical American blockbuster that doesn't really stay very long with you once you've left the cinema. I only see this movie as some easy entertainment and than I must say that it's OK. But it's not excellent and that's why I give this movie a 6.5/10.