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The word that best describes Citadel, the latest spy thriller series streaming on Amazon Prime, is generic. Everything from its basic premise, action set pieces, and even the dialogue seems like a retread of everything that’s come before. It’s as if a computer watched the Bourne, Kingsman, Bond, and Mission: Impossible films and spit this out as a result – a bit ironic considering its Executive Produced by the Russo brothers, who recently spoke about how AI-generated content isn’t far away. In this series, a global spy agency known as Citadel is attacked, and any surviving agents have their memories wiped as a precaution. Eight years later, as agency secrets – and, with them, the security of the world – become threatened, those who remain must be found and called upon once again.
Any high expectations for the series based on its large budget and the proven talent of those involved fades with the conclusion of its long opening action sequence. It’s not that the fighting and shootouts are poorly done or overtly boring, but they don’t wow you either, and unless you’re a sucker for forced dialogue, lens flares, and a repetitive spinning camera effect, there isn’t a whole lot to get excited about. It’s not to say that it’s impossible to have fun with the show, it’s just more likely to get lost in the shuffle with all the streaming options available.
One thing Citadel does have going for it is its very talented cast, led by Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas as spies Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh, each of whom bring with them a very large following of fans from their previous work. Obviously, Madden is well-known for his time on Game of Thrones, but it was his performance in 2018’s Bodyguard which certainly showed him more than capable of excelling in a role like this one. He’s simply fantastic in that series, with all sorts of range and emotion on display, and while Citadel is pursuing a different space, it still feels like a missed opportunity. When tonal shifts go from dire to lighthearted, it can be tricky to find the balance, and that’s the consistent disconnect through its first three episodes, especially regarding Madden’s character Mason.
While Mason is thrust back into the dangerous spy game without regaining his memory, Nadia is fortunate enough to inject a way too easily stolen serum which restores hers, and all her ability. While having the female lead be the capable one used to be a fun new twist, storytelling has evolved and it’s much more commonplace now. Having the right actor chemistry is essential to making the dynamic successful though, and Chopra Jonas brings a fun blend of captivating and callous to her role opposite Madden.
Upstaging their talented but underutilized lead actors, are supporting roles from the always charming Stanley Tucci as Bernard, who’s charged with getting the Citadel gang back together, and Dahlia Archer, who plays the delightfully ruthless head of Manticore, which is dead set on bringing them down and achieving world power. Again, not groundbreaking, but it is nice to see Archer as the head villain when they easily could have gone with a stereotypical male bad guy. Tucci makes the most basic lines seem serviceable, and Archer who effortlessly transitions from mundanely diplomatic to cruel is fun to watch.
The first episode, “The Human Enigma,” is largely focused on Mason, and him coming to grips with his past and becoming a willing participant in this new endeavor. Meanwhile, the second episode, “Spies Appear in Night Time,” connects things back to Nadia. As the story progresses beyond its very simple groundwork, it moves towards establishing the previously implied but vaguely shown relationship that Mason and Nadia share, using flashbacks to outline when they first met, and very quickly became physical.
This focus on their relationship prior to the series opening begins in the third episode, “Infinite Shadows”, but seems like something that may continue throughout the series, to help eventually pay off the pair’s connection. The episode also brings some stylized action that feels comfortably familiar to something from the Brosnan Bond era, but by intercutting past events, it halts any momentum in the present-day narrative. Since the season is a short six episodes, hopefully it’s not as prominent over the last three.
There is enough decent action and beautiful people on screen, not to mention one perfect Dumb and Dumber joke, to enjoy Citadel for what it is – another average streaming spy thriller. A game can be made of predicting dialogue and plot twists. Each cliffhanger ending is an obvious one unless you’ve already begun to zone out waiting for the next explosion. The choice to release it as a series rather than a film, or even to release it weekly rather than provide all episodes at once for a quick and easy binge may ultimately hurt its viewership, because it’s asking a lot to remember to come back to this one each Friday.
