'Citadel' Review: When Something Unoriginal Manages to Be Pretty Entertaining

Something about Citadel seems both right and wrong at the same time. In the hands of the Marvel-fame Russo brothers, a spy franchise would ideally be chock full of extravagant visuals but for some reason, it comes across as any other spy feature. Perhaps it's the superhero fatigue seeping into this franchise.

To be fair, only two episodes were available for the review and I must admit that the actors did enough to make me want to tune in to the third one and in the oversaturated OTT space, I'd say that's a win.

Citadel gets (or gives it) name from a super stealthy organisation that's perfect fodder for your inner conspiracy theorist. Neither MI6 or CBI, Citadel comprises of good-hearted, extremely well-trained Samaritans who have influenced almost every major event for good in the past few decades.

The series opens with agent Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra), a vision in red, tasked with obtaining a briefcase on a train. On this train, she runs into her ex-partner (in every sense of the word) Mason Kane (Richard Madden). The operation goes haywire and a pretty decent action sequence later, we're left with little information.

Our agents are gone; dead, alive, extracted? Who knows. And we also know of a nefarious organisation run by the uber elite - Manticore. Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

When it comes to the plot and the structuring, the show isn't anything new or original. Most of the spy tropes are used up in the first two episodes which is concerning because what's left to do? You'll find yourself thinking of The Bourne Identity, Mr and Mrs Smith, Bullet Train, and even the MCU at various points.

The second episode, however, is much better than the first. Without giving anything away, the episode runs two parallel missions (one professional, one personal) and the stakes on the latter are enough to keep one hooked.

This might not be Chopra's best act but boy, can she fight. When she's given the chance to have some emotional heft to the character, the show is a great watch. It's also interesting to see Chopra sport one accent after the other when the 'accent' conversation has surrounded her ever since she stepped into Hollywood.

I find nothing wrong with it and some of the intricacies she brings into her character and blink-and-miss but pretty good. But pity that, for the most part, the dialogues on Citadel are more showy and gimmicky than gripping.

Madden, too, is pretty charming and funny (and broody when he needs to be). The star of the show however would be Stanley Tucci as the Citadel handler and tech-genius Bernard Orlick. He takes even the most mundane dialogues and makes them seem like they're dripping with premise.

Although, sometimes it's pretty clear that banter exists for banter's sake. And that can be pretty off-putting. Overall, the series isn't good or bad and somehow is resting in a comfortable medium place. But it's decently entertaining so, why crib (more)?

Citadel is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.