By Melanie Mayberry, programming editor
Amazon’s Prime Video tomorrow (April 28) will debut an intriguing new spy series, Citadel, starring Richard Madden (Bodyguard) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico) as intelligence agents who must come out of hiding to track down a secret cabal that’s controlling world events. The trailer looks great and both Madden and Chopra Jones are on fire now so this could be a big winner for Amazon which has already renewed the show for a second season.
But is the show any good? The reviews are coming in this morning and they are… mixed. Some are loving it and some not so much. Below is a sample of some reviews, and a series trailer. Enjoy.
“An intriguing and thrilling series that embraces classic Hollywood spy tropes and then subverts your expectations at every turn.” — Joey Morona, Cleveland Plain-Dealer. (See more of this review here via Rottentomatoes.com)
“Some might criticize the show’s hefty price tag, its globe-hopping, shoot-’em-up nature, or even the accents. But overall, Citadel is a thrilling ride, as long as you don’t take it too seriously and embrace its slightly campy side.” — Abby Cavenaugh, Collider. (See more of the review here.)
“What becomes evident in just the first half of “Citadel” is that this entire enterprise is a depressing testament to the bloat that defines streaming services struggling to maintain subscribers and scale.” — Marshall Shaffer, SlashFilm. (See more of this review here.)
“Just add “build out the ensemble” to the list of things Citadel will have to get around to in future installments, along with “add anything fresh to the genre” and “ask its stars to be more than photogenic promotional vehicles.” So far, it isn’t good enough to stick with for pure entertainment or bad enough to require rubbernecking.” — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter.
“Prime Video’s bland spy show wastes its stars (and a whole lot of money.)” — AV Club.
“Citadel” relies so heavily on rapid exposition and quick dialogue that instead of the expected sequence of flavorful courses, we’re being fed the entire meal at once.” — Karama, Horne, The Wrap.
“Harnessing the narrative talents of showrunner David Weil and the MCU experience of the Russo Brothers, Citadel feels like a lived-in and familiar story that is still chock full of solid action, sexy spies, and some major surprises.” — Alex Maidy, JoBlo.com.
Sounds like if you like the stars and/or the genre, you’ll like Citadel. But you can make up your own mind starting tomorrow. Update: The Rotten Tomatoes score for Citadel is 53 as of this afternoon.
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