Review of ‘Citadel’, this is the blockbuster of the Russo with Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra on Prime Video

Reading the premise of ‘Citadel,’ you might have a faint recollection of the Russo Brothers’ 2022 film, ‘The Invisible Agent.’ In some ways, the two spy projects are curiously similar: an all-star cast, plenty of locations, excessively loud artillery fire…

‘The Invisible Agent’ was all over Netflix’s homepage for three days and then slid into the drab ether of the catalogue, where it will presumably stay until the sequel arrives. However, with ‘Citadel’, the Russo brothers have taken a step forward after Marvel. Netflix’s higher-ups may feel like they missed out on a good opportunity to invest their money.

The Prime Video proposal is led by Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) as elite spies for the Citadel, an independent global spy agency. The opening scenes, on a high-speed train traversing the Alps as the sun sets, sadly fall into the trappings of run-of-the-mill spy movies.

With Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) in command of the headset, Nadia discusses the enriched uranium in a sinister Russian’s suitcase. One stock market stereotype follows another when Nadia opens her handbag with the items rejected by this kind of Q, which includes an explosive disguised as perfume. Later, Nadia tells the Russian, Gregor, that she has a gun pointed at his nether regions, giving our femme fatale another well-worn spy cliché to add to the pile.

However, once the train explodes and plunges off the edge of a cliff into the picturesque lake below, ‘Citadel’ is spared from the lazy platitudes we’ve all seen dozens of times before. The action jumps forward eight years, with Mason and Nadia living a new life after their memories are erased amid the destruction of the Citadel.

Unbeknownst to his past as a spy, Mason is living the American Dream in what looks suspiciously like Hawkeye’s secret house in Avengers: Age of Ultron (we even find out his wife and son). Bernard soon tracks down Mason, who tracks down Nadia, amid a new threat from the suspicious enemy organization Manticore, headed by Dahlia Archer (Leslie Manville), who is working as the UK ambassador to the US as a front.

The Russos tackle the inevitable Jason Bourne comparisons head-on with a tongue-in-cheek quip, and off we go on a pretty hilarious ride from there. We traveled from Zurich to Chicago, from Wyoming to Valencia; if there’s a state or city with a population, it’s probably somewhere in this great international series.

Challenging the Marvel profile of the Russos who laid the foundation for three-hour movies with ‘Endgame’, each episode of ‘Citadel’ arrives in just over half an hour. Yet the series still upholds its beloved bombastic cinematic standards, with playful writing from David Weil’s screenplay, fast-paced editing, and choreographed fight scenes to leave the most squeamish with a shudder.

‘Citadel’ manages to balance the fun and hectic pace of this spy adventure without ever getting lost in the scope of it all. From the very first scenes, Madden and Chopra exchange haunting glances and classic “we have a romantic history” chatter as chemistry drips from their exquisitely illuminated skin. There’s real momentum from when they part to when they finally get together, albeit without any recollection of each other.

However, the protagonist who steals the scene of the first two episodes of ‘Citadel’ is Tucci, who immersed himself here in his character as much as in his funny role in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ or in his recent and creepy appearance. as a killer on death row in ‘Inside Man.’ Aided in part by the fact that he has the wittiest lines in the script, Tucci’s natural charm bounces off everyone around him, even if their mouths are taped shut.

Meanwhile, Manville promises to deliver more spooky shenanigans as the less-sunny Dahlia. He’s got us in when he threatens a CIA member next to a rose hedge while sporting a granny seaside straw hat. “Should we plant explosives on her daughter’s British Airways flight tomorrow from Oxford? Or should we kidnap her wife and bury her alive in my rose garden?” she asks her with an angelic smile.

There are only two of the six episodes available to watch now, since Prime Video has preferred to focus on weekly broadcast, so it is possible to think that ‘Citadel’ will follow the path of its train and derail in later episodes.

But so far, this heartbreaking game is promising. If anything, the perspective of Manville and Tucci’s characters locked in an ugly confrontation is enough to warrant binge-watching.

The first two episodes of ‘Citadel’ are now available on Amazon Prime Video.