Citadel early review: A $300 million letdown? Priyanka Chopra's spy-thriller series fails to impress

Despite the high-stakes behind-the-scenes drama, the jaw-dropping budget of $300 million, and promises of unprecedented television excellence, Amazon Prime Video's Citadel is just... ordinary. Sure enough, there is a sheen to its production quality, and the show has a cinematic, high-budget feel. And the cast, led by Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, is not only stacked but improbably good-looking. But in the end, it is strictly humdrum television with intermittent displays of excellence. Coming from the stables of the Russo Brothers (yes, those of the last two Avengers movies) the series was announced in mid-2018. It was developed by screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, who went on to leave the project in 2021 over the same-old reason these exits happen: "creative differences".

David Weil, behind Prime Video's own Hunters and Apple TV+'s Invasion, was brought to the helm. There is no clash of visions visible in the show as such, but the story does not break any new ground in the saturated spy thriller genre. It's worth noting, however, that critics were only given access to the first two episodes, so there's a chance that the remaining season could surprise us with sheer brilliance. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

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What is Citadel about?

Citadel, like so many other contemporary productions with grandiose ambitions, boasts of a global scale. Its "globe-trotting" premise is a trope that has become all too familiar in this era of algorithm-driven entertainment. As though filming in exotic locations would alone make the thingworthwhile. The show carries a distinctly "created-by-algorithm" vibe, something that is becoming depressingly common nowadays.

Madden and Chopra essay Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh, respectively. Kane and Sinh are part of Citadel, a spy agency that is unlike any other. Rather than working for a particular government or political agenda, it claims to operate solely for the betterment of all people, regardless of nationality, and wages intelligence and actual warfare on bad actors and organisations.

Kane and Sinh are old hands whose memories of any association with the organisation were remotely wiped after a confrontation goes awry. As Kane and Sinh take on their latest high-stakes mission, they must grapple with the foggy remnants of their past and face off against the nefarious Manticore, Citadel's antithesis.

Stanley Tucci plays Bernard Orlick, a technology expert who serves as an intel provider to Citadel operatives. British actress Lesley Manville essays Dahlia Archer, the British Ambassador to the United States who is secretly a Manticore operative. She dispatches her minions to track down and kill surviving Citadel operatives, including the main two.

Is Citadel worth a watch?

The show opens on a train in Italian alps. Kane and Sinh are tracking a target, but when they catch up, it turns out to be a setup. It is a genuinely impressive opening and there is a fabulously well-choreographed fight scene in a cramped lavatory. Such a shame that the rest of what I saw of Citadel was nowhere near as fun. To be sure, the show retains its frenetic pace and bombastic action throughout. The reason it is so loud and fast, I suspect, is that makers hoped most people will then not really care about all the silly dialogue and plot contrivances. "Oh did that person say a stupid thing that does not fit the scene or the character? Here's a cool explosion to take your mind off it!"

Am I joking, you ask? I wish I was.

Once you take out all that eye candy (human or otherwise), Citadel is unable to get past the trappings of the genre. There is little inventiveness and edge that I'd hoped for. It is not the next big thing the promos led you to believe.

It bears repeating: good writers are worth their weight in gold. Throwing hundreds of millions of dollars to random people is not going to pay much in terms of dividends.

The performances, I admit, are solid, which salvages the show from being a complete failure. Priyanka, doing her best impression of a lifelong smoker who just ate a bag of gravel (which is to say, she speaks in a husky voice that she has devised for Hollywood), is gorgeous and is well-cast. Madden is playing pretty much the same role as in Bodyguard, and looks at ease. He is not the best of actors, but these kinds of role suits him. Manville is good too. But Tucci is probably my favourite of the bunch so far — both sardonic and mysterious — appears to be having a lot of fun.

In conclusion

If you are fond of unchallenging, occasionally thrilling, and well-produced piece of entertainment, Citadel might not be a bad choice for you. Personally, I would be loath to reward a show or movie of this kind. Perhaps if such things were seen little, the people lording over the various streaming services would actually invest in good writers with a coherent vision and original ideas instead of letting money do all the talking. It is hard to reconcile the hype with the product that is ultimately delivered, leaving one with a sense of disappointment rather than awe.

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