Citadel review: Priyanka Chopra is the highlight of the pricey but unimpressive new series on Prime Video.

Review of Citadel: The Prime Video series stars Priyanka Chopra as “tier 1 spy” Nadia Sinh.

Priyanka Chopra controls every frame in Citadel, Amazon Prime Video’s massive new investment, whether she is wearing exquisite clothing or filthy rags. She is a joy to see, hear, and experience whether she is doing precise action scenes or speaking with a siren’s voice. However, despite all of her efforts, the programme still looks to be missing. From the actors’ performances to the narrative, from the polished action choreography to the lavish settings and locales, everything appears to be fine in certain places. The aggregate of these pieces, however, is never greater than receiving an ordinary grade.

The show’s first two episodes, which were made accessible for the purpose of this review, concentrate on giving you a taste of all the action, explosions, and mysteries you can expect for the whole run of the show. Citadel struggles at the beginning to establish a clear heart; it is an espionage story that we have seen many times before. The clumsy spy technology, retrograde amnesia, nuclear codes in a briefcase, and the villain giving commands to her goons are all nothing really novel.

Of fact, two episodes may be too soon to make a judgement given that this programme and its executive producers, the Russo Brothers, have much more ambitious plans for creating a whole world that include sibling series in Italy and India. But regrettably, Citadel’s first impression is that it has a bland network TV feel that kept reminding me of Quantico.  Read this also: Where, when, and how to watch the re-released episodes of Game of Thrones and Succession on HBO

In Citadel, a group of spies prevents conflicts from breaking out and brings war criminals to trial while fighting for the extremely nebulous “good” of the planet. The two brightest spies in this group are Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas). Nadia and Mason lose their memory and spend 8 years away from murder and mayhem after Citadel is assaulted by an insider and its spies are eliminated. Fate and a black suitcase eventually bring them back together. Although the plot was quite straightforward in the first two episodes, we may anticipate a greater shuffle and some further confusion as the series continues, lies and secrets are revealed, and backs are stabbed (both literally and figuratively).

There are several outstanding action sequences interspersed throughout all of this. A chained and battered Priyanka slicing through a pervert, for example, would be far more fascinating to see than perhaps her swiping firearms on a train that looks like CGI. Watching Richard push a man into a toilet is harder to remember than her getting banged against restaurant tables by thugs and feeling motivated to fight back.

When it comes to being cool or flirtatious, she still kind of overdoes it, despite the fact that she is indisputably terrific as an action heroine and maintains the correct tone for lighter parts. While this is going on, Richard performs his duties. His Mason Kane, the straightforward neighbour who also happens to be a spy, lacks a lot of complexity. You won’t find anything in here that makes you think of his brooding Bodyguard character.

Citadel has been dubbed one of Amazon Prime Video’s most costly series ever produced, but thus yet, none of that money appears to have been well spent. Little about this series will pique your interest, let alone open the door for more Hindi and Italian adaptations. The narrative is trite, and it uses tired tropes that have been used many times before.