308 reviews
Y'all know the trope of an amnesic spy is that we audience gotta discover the protagonist's backstory together with him, right? Why on earth would you begin the show with a complete flashback? There might be plot twists and betrayals down the road, but you also need to entice the audience to keep watching to see that happen.
Besides starring Richard Madden as discount Matt Damon, we also have Stanley Tucci being a discount Mark Strong. Sounds familiar? Good-guy independent spy agency? Add a sprinkle of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and you get this utter lack of originality show.
Also what kind of incompetent spy agency keeps a list of all their agents and black sites in one document, and all their secrets together in literally one briefcase?
Not impressed.
Besides starring Richard Madden as discount Matt Damon, we also have Stanley Tucci being a discount Mark Strong. Sounds familiar? Good-guy independent spy agency? Add a sprinkle of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and you get this utter lack of originality show.
Also what kind of incompetent spy agency keeps a list of all their agents and black sites in one document, and all their secrets together in literally one briefcase?
Not impressed.
- isabellacheng
- Apr 28, 2023
- Permalink
From the beginning of the show, it is clear what they were trying to do with the whole story, the concept of the Citadel universe as a whole is great, but it is indeed badly executed. If only they worked on the execution more; as in story telling, how the series of events would run after one another, noticed that there's a lot of flashbacks at wrong points throughout the episodes, and sometimes even too many flashbacks back to back, forgetting sometimes that the series is also taking place in real time. The whole high tech part of the series is also amazing what they tried to accomplish but their ambition was their undoing. This series is capable of being top notch, but the story telling needs refining, while watching you'd feel that the episode is out of place or out of sync with the story, you'd feel that it's missing something. Again more work is needed on execution.
- MustaphaElDaouk
- May 25, 2023
- Permalink
This is an initial review of the first episode of this series.
While this is an intriguing concept in the vein of Jack Ryan/Jason Bourne and the many spy adaptations that have been brought to the big and small screen lately, it fails to live up to the hype.
The first thing that jumped out to me about this series was the cringy-ness of the dialogue and the lazy plot writing. The initial meeting in the trail between the two main characters debuts with very poorly written dialogue that felt like it was trying way too hard to be clever. The action scenes that followed were pretty well executed, but nothing I haven't seen before.
The plot tropes that followed have been seen in a ton of spy movies/series already, it felt like a soft-boiled crowd-sourced spy series where they threw a bunch of heavily-used spy tropes in a blender to make something basic and unimaginative.
The bottom line is that this series has failed to find a unique identity and very much risks being forgotten over time. The action scenes were pretty good but the characters seem to be basic and unmemorable so far. To be fair, it's very early in the series. But unless is seen something unique from a story perspective that captures my attention, I am not going to waste my time watching further. I hope things improve but I'm not optimistic.
While this is an intriguing concept in the vein of Jack Ryan/Jason Bourne and the many spy adaptations that have been brought to the big and small screen lately, it fails to live up to the hype.
The first thing that jumped out to me about this series was the cringy-ness of the dialogue and the lazy plot writing. The initial meeting in the trail between the two main characters debuts with very poorly written dialogue that felt like it was trying way too hard to be clever. The action scenes that followed were pretty well executed, but nothing I haven't seen before.
The plot tropes that followed have been seen in a ton of spy movies/series already, it felt like a soft-boiled crowd-sourced spy series where they threw a bunch of heavily-used spy tropes in a blender to make something basic and unimaginative.
The bottom line is that this series has failed to find a unique identity and very much risks being forgotten over time. The action scenes were pretty good but the characters seem to be basic and unmemorable so far. To be fair, it's very early in the series. But unless is seen something unique from a story perspective that captures my attention, I am not going to waste my time watching further. I hope things improve but I'm not optimistic.
- cbrueggemeyer
- Apr 27, 2023
- Permalink
There were some undoubtedly good moments as this series set up, unfortunately, the further the series went the less promise it showed.
This is tricky, I really wanted to like Citadel, and I did like the first episode.
It's a little tempting to think that this is what happens when you throw too much money at something and don't make it work hard enough to earn that money and develop.
True there was some classic spy action - but with only a few exceptions this wasn't really groundbreaking stuff. Also true that an element of predictability crept into the show the further it went.
What we ended up with is a show that absolutely looks the part, but that when all is said and done is less the sum of its parts, whereas at a rumored $300 million it should clearly have been more - much more.
Citadel is another sad example of a show that chose form over function - looking good, rather than really getting the razor to the story and whittling and revising until something fresh and entertaining remains - new twists on old tails.
Let's hope they learn the lesson for season 2.
This is tricky, I really wanted to like Citadel, and I did like the first episode.
It's a little tempting to think that this is what happens when you throw too much money at something and don't make it work hard enough to earn that money and develop.
True there was some classic spy action - but with only a few exceptions this wasn't really groundbreaking stuff. Also true that an element of predictability crept into the show the further it went.
What we ended up with is a show that absolutely looks the part, but that when all is said and done is less the sum of its parts, whereas at a rumored $300 million it should clearly have been more - much more.
Citadel is another sad example of a show that chose form over function - looking good, rather than really getting the razor to the story and whittling and revising until something fresh and entertaining remains - new twists on old tails.
Let's hope they learn the lesson for season 2.
Mason Kane (Richard Madden) was once one of the top agents for an independent global spy agency called Citadel that operated outside the controls of any government with its mission being to protect humanity from global threats. During a mission alongside Citadel's other top agent Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), the mission turned out to be a trap by insidious organization Manticore which lead to Citadel's collapse and Mason losing his memories believing himself to be an alias Kyle Conroy. 8 years later, Mason/Kyle is now married to Abby (Ashleigh Cummings) with a daughter Hendrix (Caoilinn Springall) with still no memory of his life beyond these 8 years save for flashes in dreams. When Mason/Kyle attempts another DNA test, this brings him to the attention of Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci), his former tech support specialist in Citadel who tells him that Manticore are preparing something major and he needs to use his dormant skillset to stop it.
Citdael is the long awaited collaboration between Amazon Studios and producers Joe and Anthony Russo that has spent five years in development with the intention being to create a globe spanning spy franchise consisting of a mothership series along with several planned local language spin-offs with an Indian and Italian series both confirmed at this point with several others in various stages of development. Totaling a six episode first season, Citadel is noted for being one of the most expensive series ever produced with an estimated $300 million production budget that's largely credited with reshoots that were undertaken when the original showrunners were replaced with David Weil. With the first two episodes now available, Citadel certainly has scope and production value to spare, but it's all in service of a very safe and very generic spy thriller that feels like a remix of the "greatest hits" of the past 20 years' worth of spy movies.
It's honestly pretty hard to discuss much regarding Citadel because the first two episodes have basically been very standard scenes of exposition, macguffin chases, and fight scenes with very little that actually gives Citadel much of an identity of its own. While I did like Stanley Tucci giving some personality to his tech expert character Bernard Orlick by adding some punch to his lines, most of the cast aren't really given all that much to work with and as a result Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas just feel like placeholders in roles that could've been played by anyone and it'd hardly make a difference who you chose to play them.
Citadel just feels like time filler, albeit handsomely produced and competently made time filler. It's amazing how you have a series that not only has this level of financial backing but is coming from major producing powers and there's just nothing all that much to talk about in what's supposed to be a major hook to get viewers.
Citdael is the long awaited collaboration between Amazon Studios and producers Joe and Anthony Russo that has spent five years in development with the intention being to create a globe spanning spy franchise consisting of a mothership series along with several planned local language spin-offs with an Indian and Italian series both confirmed at this point with several others in various stages of development. Totaling a six episode first season, Citadel is noted for being one of the most expensive series ever produced with an estimated $300 million production budget that's largely credited with reshoots that were undertaken when the original showrunners were replaced with David Weil. With the first two episodes now available, Citadel certainly has scope and production value to spare, but it's all in service of a very safe and very generic spy thriller that feels like a remix of the "greatest hits" of the past 20 years' worth of spy movies.
It's honestly pretty hard to discuss much regarding Citadel because the first two episodes have basically been very standard scenes of exposition, macguffin chases, and fight scenes with very little that actually gives Citadel much of an identity of its own. While I did like Stanley Tucci giving some personality to his tech expert character Bernard Orlick by adding some punch to his lines, most of the cast aren't really given all that much to work with and as a result Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas just feel like placeholders in roles that could've been played by anyone and it'd hardly make a difference who you chose to play them.
Citadel just feels like time filler, albeit handsomely produced and competently made time filler. It's amazing how you have a series that not only has this level of financial backing but is coming from major producing powers and there's just nothing all that much to talk about in what's supposed to be a major hook to get viewers.
- IonicBreezeMachine
- Apr 27, 2023
- Permalink
- mikeroxx-575-827666
- Jun 11, 2023
- Permalink
Well, after reading all the comments on how abysmal the show is, I thought I'd temper all the negativity by saying I like it so each to their own.
Just a note though. I don't understand the criticism about Richard Madden' s acting. Has anyone seen the Bodyguard?!
He was absolutely brilliant in it. Seriously how can anyone say he can't act? Because he isn't American?
If that's the case , Yawn.
Plenty of excellent actors in the world who arent American, jeez.
And Pryanka isn't bad at all!! What's with people?
Got through the 1st episode fine. Watching the 2nd one and finding it still pretty entertaining.
Just a note though. I don't understand the criticism about Richard Madden' s acting. Has anyone seen the Bodyguard?!
He was absolutely brilliant in it. Seriously how can anyone say he can't act? Because he isn't American?
If that's the case , Yawn.
Plenty of excellent actors in the world who arent American, jeez.
And Pryanka isn't bad at all!! What's with people?
Got through the 1st episode fine. Watching the 2nd one and finding it still pretty entertaining.
- carolemlt2
- May 20, 2023
- Permalink
Probably the script was written by ChatGPT. They fed the program with some famous spy movies, took out its soul and that was it. It's worse than shows with one-twentieth of the budget. Where did they put $300 million? And making jokes about another movie doesn't change the fact that it's copy and cliché like when the protagonist's wife says he's not Jason Bourne just to alleviate the plagiarism. The scene where the protagonist goes to retrieve equipment that his enemies have been looking for eight years is embarrassing. My mother going to buy bread at the bakery is more exciting. Boring and copy of the copy of the copy of other movies. Not to mention the numerous plot holes and absurdities. I gave 3 because of the good actors.
Personally I thought Citadel was every bit as good as I had hoped it would be but with so many mixed reviews my advice would be to just go watch it for yourself. It's about two spies who loved each other (Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra) but have their memories wiped after their agency was destroyed by a powerful syndicate. It's now 8 years later and they have built their own lives with new identities and no memory of being spies. They then try to get their memories back to help prevent a New World Order from happening. This kind of story has been done numerous times before but Citadel still does it with a fresh new take. Some of it is unbelievable but just turn your mind off and enjoy it for what it is and that's an action packed thriller.
- Supermanfan-13
- Jun 3, 2024
- Permalink
- JeanFlores-Dickens
- Jun 17, 2023
- Permalink
It doesn't get much more cookie cutter and mediocre than this.
You can tell from the dialogue in the very first scene, what kind of show is going to be. The two main characters for no reason talks to each other in five different languages in a single conversation, to tell the audience how great they are as spies. The handler tells the agent on the mission to remember that the target has nuclear material in his briefcase, because I'm sure she forgot... The entire first episode continues in the same vein, where characters explain things to the audience by telling each other things they already know, and it's the laziest kind of writing.
Throw some amnesia in there, some top agents who's fighting is laughable and who like to throw quips around instead of carrying out their mission and you've got a show that nobody is going to remember in 10 minutes.
You can tell from the dialogue in the very first scene, what kind of show is going to be. The two main characters for no reason talks to each other in five different languages in a single conversation, to tell the audience how great they are as spies. The handler tells the agent on the mission to remember that the target has nuclear material in his briefcase, because I'm sure she forgot... The entire first episode continues in the same vein, where characters explain things to the audience by telling each other things they already know, and it's the laziest kind of writing.
Throw some amnesia in there, some top agents who's fighting is laughable and who like to throw quips around instead of carrying out their mission and you've got a show that nobody is going to remember in 10 minutes.
- mfeierskov
- Apr 28, 2023
- Permalink
- davidlimbusering
- Feb 14, 2024
- Permalink
- shorn-40895
- Jan 18, 2024
- Permalink
For now, just a big parade of shallow clichés.
Maybe it's an attempt to bring a teenage audience closer to spy genre. The intended audience would then justify the insubstantial plot, the characters' constant explanations of what's going on, the TikTok editing, and an almost cynical lack of engagement with the real world. By the way, do these plots involving nuclear artifacts still make sense? Why don't screenwriters experiment with contexts closer to the experiences of the new generations, such as pesticides, industrial secrets in medicine and food, disputes over geolocation data, etc.? Why not explicitly place industries and their business interests at the center of the story rather than these government agencies with their political overtones?
Boring.
Maybe it's an attempt to bring a teenage audience closer to spy genre. The intended audience would then justify the insubstantial plot, the characters' constant explanations of what's going on, the TikTok editing, and an almost cynical lack of engagement with the real world. By the way, do these plots involving nuclear artifacts still make sense? Why don't screenwriters experiment with contexts closer to the experiences of the new generations, such as pesticides, industrial secrets in medicine and food, disputes over geolocation data, etc.? Why not explicitly place industries and their business interests at the center of the story rather than these government agencies with their political overtones?
Boring.
- fariasmpdf
- May 3, 2023
- Permalink
This series is very similar to pretty much every action/spy flick pre 10's.
It's cheesy and exciting at the same time.
It has all the typical characteristics of movies like "Taken" and "under siege" with a dash of espionage and thriller mixed in for good measure.
The editing is a bit choppy but it makes up for it with its intriguing "manly" storytelling. Watching this I felt like I was watching a Steven segal movie again that had taken its inspiration from other movies like "XXX" and the Bourne series, the action can seem a bit weak at time But it's throughly enjoyable.
Overall it's a series I'll be watching until the end, and I'll be looking forward to seeing where it goes with the story.
It's cheesy and exciting at the same time.
It has all the typical characteristics of movies like "Taken" and "under siege" with a dash of espionage and thriller mixed in for good measure.
The editing is a bit choppy but it makes up for it with its intriguing "manly" storytelling. Watching this I felt like I was watching a Steven segal movie again that had taken its inspiration from other movies like "XXX" and the Bourne series, the action can seem a bit weak at time But it's throughly enjoyable.
Overall it's a series I'll be watching until the end, and I'll be looking forward to seeing where it goes with the story.
- whotheman123
- Apr 27, 2023
- Permalink
I decided to watch Citadel after I watched Jack Ryan. I hadn't heard very good thing about it but for me it was pretty interesting. I really like some of the characters. Nadia for one and Tucci's computer genius. Also, the story has an intriguing villain. The visuals are good except for a few really bad CGI moments. The action is top notch. The dialog isn't always great but no worse than anything else i.e the Night agent, The Recruit. Teh story is really interesting but sometimes it's hard to tell who's who. I think people should watch it and make up their own minds. If you liked those other two shows I mentioned, you'll probably like this one. I hope they continue to the story. I would hate to see it end with just one season.
- judywalker2
- Jul 17, 2023
- Permalink
Certainly not very original early on, but it sure is glossy and BIG budget. Madden, Chopra and Tucci bring plenty of star power. But super spies with lost memories, ultra secret spy organization that operate above the world order, rival organization with evil name out for global power and control, slick hitech spy gear, glib one liners, and so on, has been done many times over. But who's to say we can't have yet another? It's an entertaining genre.
In the hiatus between Bond films, this is as good as we're going to get, big or small screen. There are some promising twists, so I'm hopeful. Madden and Chopra have a charming screen presence, and cinematography appears to be top notch. Worth giving it a few episodes to warm up.
In the hiatus between Bond films, this is as good as we're going to get, big or small screen. There are some promising twists, so I'm hopeful. Madden and Chopra have a charming screen presence, and cinematography appears to be top notch. Worth giving it a few episodes to warm up.
- yooniverse
- Apr 28, 2023
- Permalink
I hoped that Citadel was at least acceptable.
Given that Richard Madden starred in Game of Thrones and the much better Bodyguard and good actors like Stanley Tucci & Lesley Manville in supporting roles I hoped that this new series could be fun.
However it starts with a CGI-heavy opening scene on a fake looking train with horrible dialogue & embarrassing acting on Priyanka Chopra's part and goes only downhill from there.
Excessive killings and violence as if we were in a video game, amnesia, no finesse, no surprise- a by the number series for people who have neither seen James Bond nor Kingsman nor Jason Bourne. This series is an embarrassment for everybody involved and especially for Amazon, which poured a ton of money into this new franchise.
However knowing that the Russo Brothers are behind it, I have my explanation why Citadel is as bad as it is. No wonder, the Russos are also behind 2022's equally embarrassing and bad The Gray Man on Netflix.
Anybody who expects at least some quality: Please do yourself a favor and don't watch this disaster.
Given that Richard Madden starred in Game of Thrones and the much better Bodyguard and good actors like Stanley Tucci & Lesley Manville in supporting roles I hoped that this new series could be fun.
However it starts with a CGI-heavy opening scene on a fake looking train with horrible dialogue & embarrassing acting on Priyanka Chopra's part and goes only downhill from there.
Excessive killings and violence as if we were in a video game, amnesia, no finesse, no surprise- a by the number series for people who have neither seen James Bond nor Kingsman nor Jason Bourne. This series is an embarrassment for everybody involved and especially for Amazon, which poured a ton of money into this new franchise.
However knowing that the Russo Brothers are behind it, I have my explanation why Citadel is as bad as it is. No wonder, the Russos are also behind 2022's equally embarrassing and bad The Gray Man on Netflix.
Anybody who expects at least some quality: Please do yourself a favor and don't watch this disaster.
Great show with a great plot! It had me on the edge of my seat after each episode. Everyone is super critical of this show because the thought it was cliché, but it is truly a great show with a great storyline. The mysteriousness and challenges the characters have bring the show into a perspective that it could be real. Sure, a few fight scenes might be a little far fetched, but it's a show, calm down everyone. I can't wait for season two! The ending is making me anxious for season two. So many unanswered questions. Great Movie would highly recommend it to everyone out there. Stay tuned for season two.
The show wasn't suspense packed or action packed or drama packed but it had a touch of all that. The ending was great all in all to be honest, the last episode of this season with the great reveal was glorious. Not a bad show and yes I will recommend, asides that it wasn't a bad show it was fun too watch and I think it is above average in a lot of ways. It was not packed with Oscar award winners but the actors put on a great performance especially Richard madden he really outdid himself this time cannot lie, I was impressed and as for Priyanka I can not say I have seen her take up role so it was a good surprise at the least and that's why I gave a 7/10.
- northernpaladin
- Apr 30, 2023
- Permalink
I actually thought Citadel was pretty good. I've been looking forward to this ever since I first heard about it and then my expectations grew even more after watching the trailers. Well, I can tell you that without a doubt this show has not only met those expectations but surpassed them in every way. Besides looking great it has A-list stars attached both in front and behind the camera. It's made by the Russo Brothers (Avengers, Captain America: Civil War and Winter Soldier, The Gray Man, etc.) and stars Richard Madden (Game of Thrones, Bodyguard) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Baywatch, Quantico). It's a fun series from start to finish. It will grab your attention from the very first episode and bring you into their world. The visuals are beautiful and the story is fast paced. I'm glad to see this series was already renewed because I'm excited see where this show goes.
Is this show original? No, I have seen a few shows with similar premises before. Although I liked that it wasn't just convenience as in the previous similar content was. Did I enjoy the show? Yes I did. It feels better than some of the other productions I have gotten from Amazon.
The show also look very beautiful, but Amazon production normally look quite good. It probably underachieves for its budget but I think it is probably still as of episode 3 on the higher side of the Amazon series/movies that I like.
Some of the acting seems off beat but not glaringly so. I also think the fact that they kept the plot quite simple actually helped the story. There are some other threads in there but it isn't overly complicated.
Update after finishing the whole show: Some of my expectations was subverted. I am updating this from 6 to 7 from better than average to good.
The show also look very beautiful, but Amazon production normally look quite good. It probably underachieves for its budget but I think it is probably still as of episode 3 on the higher side of the Amazon series/movies that I like.
Some of the acting seems off beat but not glaringly so. I also think the fact that they kept the plot quite simple actually helped the story. There are some other threads in there but it isn't overly complicated.
Update after finishing the whole show: Some of my expectations was subverted. I am updating this from 6 to 7 from better than average to good.
- Xavier_Stone
- Apr 27, 2023
- Permalink