Watched the first episode of Citadel on Amazon Prime. I was looking forward to its premiere, being from the Russo Brothers. It had high octane energy, conspiracy overtones, and a James Bond-like beginning. I believe it’s a 6-episode miniseries. I like it so far.
I am an espionage genre junkie. James Bond, Jason Bourne, Mission Impossible, Burn Notice, Covert Operations, Blacklist, etc.
Watched Ep1 on Thursday night and Ep2 last night. Slick production. High production values. Looks expensive. Great sets.
Problems: Another spy show where the agents are supermen and superwomen. Fight scenes go on and on and on and on. People get their heads (literally) beat in and keep coming back for more. Two agents with handguns fend off nine assassins with shotguns and machine guns in a tightly enclosed space. A woman (yes, she's trained to fight) beats up two equally trained men twice her size. Impossible escapes and survival scenes.
Unrealistic dialogue. Yes, the Bond movies have some well placed double entendres. This show goes out of its way to fill the screen with pithy smart-aleck remarks.
The main character, played by Richard Madden, doesn't have to do much except look tough, spout off one-liners and fight. He was so good in the British production "Bodyguard" playing a conflicted, torn character guarding the British Home Secretary but is barely challenged to show emotion here. When "Bodyguard" came out Madden was rumored to be the successor to Daniel Craig as James Bond (and he would be good at it.)
The plot. Can't go into this without spoilers but to say it's far-fetched is a vast understatement. Control and KAOS from Get Smart comes to mind. There is a scene where a key piece of technology must be reacquired from a heavily secured fortress and it's achieved virtually effortlessly.
Still, I'll keep watching. It's a beautiful production and like I said I'm a sucker for espionage stories. The episodes are 40 minutes long (45 with credits) so they fly by.
