What Is The Story About?
Prime Video’s ambitious spy thriller series from the Russo Brothers centres on two elite spies of ‘Citadel’, a top-tier, international, non-governmental spy agency. Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) are ambushed on a high-speed train in the Italian Alps, and left for dead.
The ambush marks the end of Citadel, as planned by rogue organisation, ‘Manticore’. The two survive, but with their memories erased. Eight years later, their boss Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) discovers that Mason is alive, and presses him into service, in order to save Citadel’s top secrets from falling into the hands of Manticore.
Citadel is created by Josh Appelbaum, Bryan Oh, and David Weil; directed by Newton Thomas Sigel, and produced by the Russo Brothers.
Performances?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden hold the otherwise mediocre plot together, with their accomplished performances in Citadel. Priyanka Chopra is easily the centrepiece of the show, with a mesmerising screen presence. She effortlessly grabs and holds viewers’ attention in the scenes she features in. Richard Madden is just the right mix of suave and sleek. He looks clueless at times, but pulls himself together and plods on to prop up the lackluster script. Both actors pull off the action scenes with flair.
Stanley Tucci‘s dry humour is affecting, but his clunky dialogues and listless characterisation do him in. Lesley Manville, as Dahlia Archer, British ambassador to the US, is sly and stylish at the same time, and a delight to watch on screen. Danish actor Roland Møller is suitably menacing as twin killing machines Anders and Davik Silje.
Analysis?
The Russo Brothers’ ambitious spy thriller Citadel is the classic example of a story that looks exhilarating on paper, but turns out to be a damp squib when executed. It is all style and no substance, with nothing memorable or worthwhile in all of the two episodes we’ve watched until now.
The production values of the show are slick and glossy – a stark reminder of the $300 million cost of producing the measly six episodes of Season 1 of the series. But the glitter is all on the surface. Take a deeper dive into the series, and you realise that it’s nothing but an expensive piece of mediocrity, the likes of which one does not expect from the Russo Bros, who gave us ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Community’, and the ‘Avengers’ movies.
The writing of Citadel is the main problem – it is laughably amateurish, with yawn-inducing predictability and run-of-the-mill plot devices. It brims with age-old tropes such as spies returning from the dead; memories getting erased – fancily termed as “backstopping” in the series; a global plot, involving rich and powerful “families” who control the world order — ‘The Illuminati’ anyone? — and more along the same vein.
The primary plot centres on retrieving the “X-Case”, which contains nuclear codes to every nuclear weapon in the world. Sheesh, even a 14-year-old could have written a premise as basic as this, along with the juvenile “X-Case” name given to the all-important briefcase. The plot leaves you unmoved and unimpressed.
Added to that is the unremarkable storytelling. It lacks chutzpah and panache, leading to a series that is utterly devoid of sizzle and spark. Surely, a cast as stellar and good-looking as this deserved a series that leaves the viewer enthralled and enraptured. Alas, Citadel fails on every count.
The series begins with an extended train sequence that is quite entertaining to watch. And then goes all downhill from thereon. The plot brims with gazillion hard-to-believe moments – the most outrageous of which is the ludicrous ease with which Mason Kane retrieves the X-Case from the top secret, high-security hideout of Manticore, cocking a snook at the brutally ruthless Silje twins. Sillier still is the retrieving of Mason and Nadia’s memories – all of it is saved in a vial containing some dubious-looking liquid. Like, Seriously? Does the audience look like imbecile idiots to the writers, that they’ll watch this drivel without questioning the intellect—or creative maturity—of the writers?
Apart from the lousy plot devices, what rankles in Citadel is that the series invests no effort or time to endear the characters to the audience – not even the two leads. Not once do we root for or feel anything for them or their concerns, in the entire two episodes that have aired until now. All of the above serve to make Citadel a half-baked and not-so-satisfying watch.
To sum it up, Citadel is a predictable and hackneyed series, laden with tried and tested tropes from every action and spy thriller there is. Watch it if you must, only for Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden.
Music And Other Departments?
Alex Belcher’s musical score for Citadel is average, nothing extraordinary there. The series also uses popular numbers at several places, but they are unaffecting and inconsequential to the narrative. Newton Thomas Sigel and Michael Wood’s cinematography is quite good, with the play of light and dark adding nuances to the storytelling.
Highlights?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden
Drawbacks?
Lousy writing
Mediocre and predictable plot
Poor storytelling
Did I like it?
Not much
Do I recommend it?
Only for Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden fans, as a one-time watch
Citadel Series Review by Binged Bureau