Review: 'Citadel' has Priyanka Chopra kicking ass with sass while exhibiting style & substance

Citadel is a kickass action bonanza that delivers in its promise and watching Priyanka Chopra Jonas not only have moments of breath-taking action but also quintessential 'heroic' moments with background score to assist.

Citadel

Citadel

I mean, how can there be any harm in watching Priyanka Chopra Jonas (PCJ) kick some ass while exhibiting sass, isn't it? A general wondering about the same though was if Citadel is only going to be just that and falter in the other departments. As the worldwide phenomena of Citadel with PCJ and Richard Madden marks the release of its first two episodes, I had the privilege to watch these episodes beforehand and here is what I thought about it-

Sleek Action Promised - Sleek Action Delivered

Sleek Action Promised - Sleek Action Delivered

The scale of this extremely ambitious series was never a question as Citadel is not only a huge project but it shows in the best way possible. Even in just two episodes, the show already gives some of the finest action pieces you can imagine. Right from the quick exchange of blows and guns in the train to PCJ's character of Nadia Sinh going one-on-one in a house after a particular timeline and the action-packed chase sequence involving Richard Madden's Mason Kane - there is a certain tidiness in all these pieces and the amount of effort gone into making this pieces impactful and believable yet superhuman and fancy is fantastic. Both Madden and Chopra Jonas are absolutely amazing with their prowess in these sequences.

Having a Beating Heart

Having a Beating Heart

As is the case with so any extravaganzas we know that in an attempt to keep the scale as huge as possible and focusing on the action, the respective story forgets about having a central emotional connect. But Citadel makes sure to keep that factor intact. Granted that the saga of memory loss and regaining old memories might not be as novel as you would expect it to be but it lands owing to the performance of the actors in question. 

With Madden, you feel his sense of cluelessness after being bombarded with information of how he was a secret agent before he lost all his memory and his new family that consists of a wife and a daughter - while brief in their appearance, strike a chord. On the other hand, there is PCJ as Nadia Sinh, who also lost her memory owing to a particular incident but her struggles are much bigger as she has to singlehandedly fight off one goon after another while leading a normal life. The earlier banter between Blake and Sinh in their secret agent years together to them now trying to come together again while understanding what is going on is well acted and hence, it connects.

The Humor & Chemistry

The Humor & Chemistry

That one scene in the trailer and special clip that had PCJ and Madden in a kitchen while the latter throws a knife at her might seem like such a basic moment in isolation but once you are watching the episode and in context, it turns out to be a brilliantly hilarious sequence where we would chuckle on every dialogue exchange. And then we have the great Stanley Tucci playing Bernard Orlick, who is the perfect blend of funny, taskmaster and the key to Mason and Sinh entirely. His scenes with Mason trying to understand about his past life are extremely funny. And this is the area where Citadel takes it a notch higher where inspite of being a sleek action bonanza, it doesn't take itself too seriously when not needed thus keeping things humorous and self-aware.

Finally, apart from all that, what works best is the chemistry between Madden and PCJ. It seemed to be rather evident off-screen in the numerous promotional tours but it has amazingly transpired on-screen as well. As colleagues who seemingly have a thing going on to then being colleagues who are getting back together after potentially having no knowledge about each other - the duo is at their best almost throughout the span.

The Pacing

The Pacing

The one department that I felt the show struggles with the most is the pacing. It isn't about being slow or being fast but the pacing of Citadel does seem rather topsy-turvy not necessarily justifying the scenes in question while making jump cuts to another. The first few minutes of the first episode itself are an indicator where the story is jumping between so many places, it becomes almost impossible to keep up. From Italy to Virginia to Zurich to Chicago and so on and so on - the pacing falters quite a lot and after a point of time, also becomes difficult to keep track.

The Verdict

Nevertheless, Citadel is still kickass action bonanza that delivers in its promise and watching Priyanka Chopra Jonas not only have moments of breath-taking action but also quintessential 'heroic' moments with background score to assist, there can seldom be anything wrong with that!

Rating - ***1/2 (3.5/5)

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Priyanka Chopra Thumbnail

Priyanka Chopra

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Richard Madden

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Amazon Prime Video

Comments (1)

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3 months ago

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