Citadel: Prime Video TV Review

The idea of the Russo Brothers executive-producing an action-led TV series must have been too delicious to resist. 

And given the reports of the sky high cost of this streaming show, it's easy to see why there's a heap of expectation squarely on its shoulders ahead of a second season having already been confirmed.

In truth, this mix of spy action, mystery and comedy feels occasionally a bit tonally all over the show in places.

Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas star as Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh a pair of spies who've been working for an organisation called Citadel. During a mission to intercept some uranium from an apparent bad guy on a train from Manticore, a rival operation, the one-time connected pair finds the carpet whipped out from under their feet, with the suggestion Citadel is not what they thought it was.

When Kane wakes from the aftermath, it's 8 years later and he has no memory of what happened, who he was or what he used to do. But his new apparently idyllic life is shattered when he and his family are kidnapped by Stanley Tucci's Bernard Orlick, who claims to have been a former colleague...

In many ways, Citadel is derivative of many other elements we've seen before.

A mix of James Bond style action sequences sit alongside comedic moments, riffs on Mr and Mrs Smith land, and all are mixed together with a pulpy spy novel feel as the conspiracy unwinds and the characters try and find their way through.

Tonally, it leaves Citadel feeling a little all over the show in places, but the action's solid, albeit somewhat derivative from the Bond stuff you've seen a million times before.

It has to be said Madden does blank spy fairly well, even if elements feel like they've been taken from his Netflix thriller Bodyguard. Unfortunately, after a somewhat kickass start of holding her own, Chopra Jonas is sidelined until the show's third episode (which itself is halfway through the run), leaving the strong start feeling more tokenistic than it should.

But when it works, Citadel slides into place nicely. Crammed into pacy 35 minute episodes, the show offers a dopamine hit that's worth indulging. 

Tucci is fantastic in every scene he's in - a real scene stealer in this, and it's great to see him sparring with the deliciously evil Lesley Manville. Perhaps it's a shame that most of the story veers on the predictable and it's only until the end of the third episode that the writers finally throw down a great twist - some of the other moments and revelations feel a little too obvious throughout, but the final moments offer up a truly delicious hook.

Ultimately, Citadel is a pulpy romp that while not perfect, offers the kind of popcorn level entertainment you'd expect in a series that has been done many, many times before - hopefully, the back half of the first season adds a bit more of a frisson than corniness, or this Citadel could be closed for business before it's even open.

The first three episodes of Citadel were viewed for the purposes of this review.

Citadel begins streaming on Prime Video from Friday April 28, with 2 episodes available to view then a new episode of the first six episode season released weekly.