Mr. & Mrs. Smith: This Movie Kicks Arse!

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Starring: Brad Pitt (Ocean’s Trilogy, Babel) as John Smith, Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider, Alexander) as Jane Smith, Vince Vaughn (Be Cool, Swingers) as Eddie
Directed By: Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Jumper)
Subtitles: Spanish, Cantonese, and Korean

The Story
John (Pitt) and Jane (Jolie) appear to be your normal married suburban couple, living a mundane life in a rather stale marriage. Yet, unknown to each other, they are both assassins at the top of their game. Unbeknownst to them, they are apparently hired to take out the same mark, and when the hit goes bad, they are ordered to kill each other.

In Mr & Mrs Smith [Blu-ray], the vow “’til death do us part” takes on a new meaning as they attempt to shoot, kick, punch, and blow each other up. When their bosses try to take them out, they decide to join company in an effort to save their lives and marriage in this no holds barred action funfest.

I like this movie with all its cartoon-like violence. At times, it was reminiscent of a Tom and Jerry with them slamming each other through windows and into walls. I must admit I did cringe when Mr. Smith repeatedly kicked Mrs. Smith (thankfully obscured by a sofa).

The dialogue was very funny and you could sense the chemistry between them. I loved Vince Vaughn’s character, Eddie, who is a woman-hating hitman who still lives with his mum. I think everything worked well in this movie.

I am disappointed that Fox saw fit to only include the theatrical cut of this movie on the disc. This is very remiss, but not toally surprising, as they did the same with Independence Day and Fantastic 4. Luckily, it was only five minutes of dialog and not any action scenes that were left out. Nonetheless, a great action film and a lot of fun to watch. My score is 8.5/10.

The Visuals
As per usual, Fox has shown us how a Blu-ray should look. Colours are superb as are the blacks. Skintones are sport on. Both close up detail and distant shots look fantastic. The cuts and blood on both Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s faces look uncomfortably real. The desert scene was bright but detailed. The night scenes were full of detail. My score: 9/10.

The Audio
I was going to watch this prior to the PS3 dts HDMA update, but I’m glad I held off for this one motherfucker of a soundtrack. I was being battered from all channels whilst watching this title.

I must say my favourite scene has to be the big bust up between Mr. and Mrs. Smith – superb – and that music track suited the scene perfectly. With all the gunfire and explosions, I’m surprised I didn’t receive a visit from the Royal Thai Police.

Fox certainly knows how to encode a movie. Top marks to them for that. With all the dialogue, I found the vocals came through clearly. Well done. My score: 10/10. Also note that there was also DD5.1 @ 640 kbps in Spanish and French.

The Extras
Once again, Fox has gone half-arsed into the extras side of things. We have trailers for Entrapment, The Sentinel, The Transporter, and Speed, all in hi-def. We have 3 audio commentaries – the first by director Doug Liman and screenwriter Simon Kinberg, the second by producers Lucas Foster and Akiva Goldsman, and the last by editor Michael Tronick, production designer Jeff Mann, and visual effects supervisor Kevin Elam.

There are 3 deleted scenes that run for almost 9 minutes and are in HD. Fox Movie Channel Presents: Making A Scene featurette is all about how the car scene between Mr. and Mrs. Smith was conceived and executed. It runs for 8 minutes and is shown in HD. For all those with D-Box Integrated Motion Systems, you can have your arse pummelled whilst enjoying this movie.

A rather skimpy selection of extras, but at least, the video parts are in high definition. My score: 4/10.

Overall Impact
This is a fun action movie with foreplay and gunplay, coupled with an excellent audio and visual presentation. I give it a 9/10.

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