Amazon Prime is not one to back away from an opportunity, especially when it comes to thriller series. It is when Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, decided to make their own version of The Recruit, was when Citadel was born.
Citadel, a spy-adventure show, revolves around two agents caught up in a new world order mission after the collapse of their organisation. Courtesy of the renowned directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, this series has been titled as their most expensive project yet.
With a hefty budget of $300 million, Amazon Prime is going all out with their latest escapade. It all comes down to one question: is it worth it?
Hollywood is not a stranger to spy-related suspense themes, so the fact that Citadel made the list of the Top 10 most popular shows on Amazon Prime during the first week is definitely something to ponder over.
Was it the cast? It can’t be denied that directors did not compromise on the selection of their lead characters. Exceptional talents like Priyanka Chopra and Stanley Tucci are popular for their diverse roles and pure justice to characters. It could be one of the reasons why viewers were so eager to binge-watch the series.
In terms of storyline, Citadel provides nothing out of the ordinary. Two spies, tangled up in fatal mission that could wipe out humanity? Intriguing? Maybe. New? Not really. Chemistry between the two leads was not one for the books. It seemed borderline forced in my opinion. I hope Hollywood realises that not every series/movie needs to include a romantic subplot. Them being a superior team of spies sits much better with the storyline.
The stunts and action bit of the series was very well produced with characters retaining to self-defence rather than attacking the enemy. It high lightened the significance of agents and their organisation quite nicely. Less use of force is not a common characteristic in such projects.
I’m guessing the bulky budget was not used for CGI at all because I have seen animated series with better editing than this. How come there wasn’t any attention paid to how far off the scenes with CGI looked? It seemed like a negligent mistake on the directors’ part.
With the hype being as high as it is, it can be predicted that the show is set to break many records since it has been announced recently that there will be two international versions of the series as well. There haven’t been much disclosed about the two versions except that Varun Dhawan is allegedly casted for the Indian version. It seems the American version will not be the only one receiving the hype.
Overall, I would give this series a 3.5/5. There could be a lot that could be done with the genre that strong and budget as heavy. Maybe the viewers are in for a surprise in the upcoming episodes. One cannot predict the show’s outcome but can hope there are much more suspense-filled adventures.