SERIES REVIEW – The Citadel is a new action-spy-thriller series on Amazon Prime, produced under the supervision of the Russo brothers. It stars Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra as Jonas, who play members of a secret agency struggling with lost memories. The series promises a global story set in multiple countries and languages, but will that be enough to keep viewers hooked? Or is it just a bland, formulaic spy series that fails to live up to its potential?

Citadel was the world’s largest independent spy agency until it was destroyed eight years ago by a mysterious organization called Manticore. In the attack, the agents’ memories were wiped clean and they began new lives in different places. But when Manticore resurfaces, the agents must return to their old lives and recall their past. The first four installments of the series follow the story of Mason Kane (Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Chopra Jonas), once lovers who now turn on each other. Can they unravel the secrets of Manticore and protect the world?

Love is blind – but are agents blind?

Perhaps the biggest problem with Citadel is that it can’t decide what kind of series it wants to be. A thrilling and twisty spy thriller? A romantic and dramatic love story? A spectacular and action-packed adventure film? A humorous and witty comedy? Sadly, none of them really. The series has tried to squeeze everything into the four episodes so far, but nothing really works. The story is full of clichés and logical fumbles, the characters are flat and implausible, the action scenes are boring and forced, and the humor is rare and awkward.

The worst part is that the series fails to capitalize on the acting skills of the two main characters and the potential their characters offer. Madden and Chopra Jonas are good actors, but they fail to convincingly portray lovers who are both attracted to and hate each other. The dialogue is clichéd and clichéd, and the romantic scenes are more laughable than emotional.

But it’s not just the main characters who suffer from a bad script, the supporting cast don’t get much chance to play interesting or memorable characters either. Stanley Tucci plays Bernard Orlick, a former Citadel agent who helps Mason and Nadia recall their memories. Tucci is a great actor, but here his character is somehow at times a boring mentor who sometimes makes funny remarks and at other times a cunning manipulator who can’t really assert himself. Lesley Manville plays Dahlia Archer, the leader of Manticore and the main villain. Manville is an Oscar-nominated actress, but here she plays a clichéd and clichéd arch-nemesis who adds nothing new or interesting to the spy movie genre. The rest of the supporting cast remains similarly forgettable, extras alongside the main characters.

Around the world in eighty days – or is it a season?

Another promise of Citadel was that it would be a global series, set in multiple countries and languages. This was an interesting idea with a lot of potential. The series will show the different cultures and languages in which the agents work and try to show global conflicts and alliances. However, it does not succeed very well. The series cannot avoid stereotypes and clichés when discussing other countries and people. The locations and languages are presented in a superficial way and do not give an authentic picture of the world. The series fails to create the global mood and atmosphere that one would expect from such a series. Viewers do not feel part of a larger story that affects the world’s fate.

Moreover, the Citadel is not only boring and formulaic, it could not even be described as overly original. Many of the scenes and motifs in the series are stolen from other well-known spy movies or sci-fi spy movies without doing anything new or interesting with them. For example, the ski chase scene has been in a bunch of James Bond films, but it’s just been done in a much more exciting and witty way in all of them. Perhaps the most memorable Bond ski scene was in The Spy Who Loved Me, when 007, played by Roger Moore, is being chased by Soviet spies in the Alps in Austria, with the James Bond theme playing in the background and Bond first shooting a Soviet spy with a pistol rigged into his ski pole, then jumping off a cliff and deploying a parachute with a British flagman. And much more exciting was the ski chase in the James Bond film World Is Not Enough. The Citadel tried to recreate a ski chase scene similar to the Bond films, but only succeeded in producing a vague imitation, without any proper rhythm, humor or wit.

But neither does the erasure of the super agent’s memories, his peaceful marriage and then resurfacing, which was already depicted in the film Total Recall, based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, push the boundaries of creativity. In that film, Arnold Schwarzenegger played a super spy with his memories erased, whose wife (played by a young Sharon Stone) was also an agent. Exactly the same thing happens in Citadel, but in a much more boring and discredited way. The Russo brothers seem to have messed up these films without adding their own style or vision. Citadel is an unimaginative and stealthy spy film.

A missed opportunity for the Russo brothers

One of the biggest attractions of Citadel was that it was produced under the supervision of the Russo brothers. The Russo brothers are known for their Marvel films, which include such hits as Avengers: The Final Destiny and Captain America: Civil War. These films were spectacular, action-packed, humorous, and emotional all at the same time, and drew millions to theaters. Audiences may have expected Citadel to be similar to these films or at least to retain the style and quality of the Russo brothers. However, this was not the case. Citadel cannot compete with the Marvel films in terms of visuals, action, humour or emotion. The series is more of an average and forgettable spy movie series that fails to capitalise on the talent and experience of the Russo brothers.

-BadSector-