Even a serious newspaper like The Independent got confused when Richard Madden drank a Vodka Martini with castmate Stanley Tucci on Instagram while promoting new series ‘Citadel’ on Instagram. Surely that meant with a degree of certainty that the Scottish hunk from ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Bodyguard’ will become the new James Bond?
Whether that is actually the case remains to be seen. That is certain Citadel an exciting test round as a super spy turns out.
The budget for the new spy series Citadel on Amazon Prime would be an astronomical $300 million. That seems like a very hefty bucket of money, although we also know that the equity of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos can take a beating.
Pilot episode
And in the first 10 minutes of the pilot episode, we can see that the money hasn’t gone into the catering, as Madden and his equally handsome co-star Priyanka Chopra Jonas tear down an impossibly luxury train car to the ground in a spectacular fight with a huge battery of villains. That does not end too well, the train derails and the fate of our brave duo is uncertain. After which we jump forward 8 years in time and super spy Mason (Madden) has become a neat family man.
His wife and daughter know nothing of his adventurous background, and it soon becomes apparent that Mason himself is not much better off. He’s lost his memory, and that’s understandably uncomfortable for him. His psychologist suggests doing a DNA test, perhaps in order to shed more light on the matter. And even before he gets the results home, he is thrown back into the action, with wife and daughter but without most of his spy skills.
Ambitions
There are global conspiracies afoot and only our brand new mix of Jason Bourne and James Bond can save the day. At least, that’s the story that spy boss Orlick (Tucci) tells Mason.
Citadel was produced by the Russo brothers who met Avengers infinity war and End game proven to handle both wagonloads of action and whole series of confusing storylines.
Ambitions
The ambitions here are also huge. In addition to the six-part American series starring Madden and Chopra Jonas, series have been ordered in Italy and India that play in the same world of rival spy services and indestructible secret agents.
There are currently two episodes to watch on Prime and the beautiful locations and action scenes fly by in a nutshell. The click between the charismatic protagonists, of course Chopra also rises from the dead, is unmistakable and Tucci is as cunning as ever. Lesley Manville plays a not-to-be-missed counterpart to the well-groomed American.
It was originally intended that Citadel was supposed to have eight one-hour episodes, but the Russos decided to make it six shorter episodes. Maybe take another look at the ‘cutting room floor’. Citadel could use some breathing space.
On demand, Amazon Prime