Citadel: Honey Bunny

I had very high hopes with this series especially after watching Citadel (Priyanka Chopra).

This series looks like very loosely made. We have some very good actors like Menon but not at their best. I did not have very high hopes from Varun Dhawan but the worst out of all was Samantha- I THOUGHT she was a good actor! But I was so wrong!

The series looks bad in terms of direction. It seems the actors were given scripts and told to do whatever they feel like with the scenes.

This really could have been a 7 plus rating series. Better direction and better choice of actors may have helped.

I am sure they spend a lot of money making it but overall it was a disappointment!

Now that I've watched all three of the Citadel series--American, Italian, and Indian--I can compare them to each other, which I don't think is the original idea, but I'll do it anyway. But, that comes later.

Anyway, Citadel: Honey Bunny is a difficult six-parter to work your way through, even though it had some pretty good action sequences. But, the story is so lame and the actors are not engaging enough at bringing their characters to life or to make me want to care. The kid was the best actor to watch.

Now, to the comparison. Of the three installments, and much to my surprise, I'm enjoying the Italian, "Diana" the best. In fact, I've watched it several times. Though it lacked great action ("Honey Bunny" wins the Action prize), the "Diana" episodes draw you in, make you care about what happens to the characters--and Italy has never been more beautiful. Finally, the original "Citadel" comes in second because of it's clever plot twist, and the best acting cast of the three.

Final scores:

Diana = A- Citadel = B Honey Bunny = C+

One of the most awaited series of 2024 by Raj & DK is finally streaming on Prime Video. Clearly this one beats the previous shows of the Franchise.

The series excels in terms of action sequences and twists in the storyline. The show consists of 6eps, for which this doesn't seem to be boring. This series has its drawbacks but still it's worth watching. There wasn't a need for ending it in a cliffhanger for S2 which could've been avoided. This has the same vibe of every other works of Raj & DK but somehow things looked scratchy in between. I mean look at their previous works, be it Farzi, Family Man or Guns & Gulaabs each time they proved their worth with their creativity and engaging plot but this time things didn't go too well which ended up being a one time watch. Varun, Samantha and Kay Kay Menon sir were good in their respective roles.

Overall a decent series to binge-watch this weekend which would take nearly 4-5hrs.

3/5.

Didn't expect this from Raj and dk.

This is the worst work done by them. I have watched countless movies and webseries in my lifetime and in my opinion this is just an average series.

There are only a few positive aspects of this series.

1. The cinematography of this series is nicely done.(especially in the last episode) 2. All the actors have done a great job. (But sometimes in Samantha's dialogue and expression the situation doesn't fit completely,maybe it's because of her native language is not hindi) 3. The BGM of the entire series is nicely composed. It fits with the situation.

Now let's talk about negative aspects of the movie.

1. I don't know why but everytime when the story goes back and forth (1992 and 2000) they display the year everytime and I don't quite like it. They should have themed the series according to the years displayed. For example they could have given a slight dark gray themed in the year 1992 so it wouldn't be necessary to tell each and every time the years that are being showed.

2. The overall storyline of the series is very average and predictable in my opinion.

3. Sometimes the series goes out of the track it doesn't focu on the story. There are lots of scenes that wouldn't impact the overall story even if they weren't in the series.

4. In my opinion this series could have been a 2 and a half hrs movie instead of a 5 hrs series. The story could have been completed in 2 hrs there's nothing extra to make a series about it.

Honestly the another series of this franchise Citadel:Diana was also below average series.

5. There are alot of parts where the makers doesn't showcase things which could be impactful in the series.

Summary: This is an average series if you want to watch it then it's upon you. If you think you can watch a 5hrs series which could have been a 2hrs movie then go ahead. But if you don't want to waste your 5 hrs then I don't recommend watching it.

The final question is: Is it worth watching?

In my opinion No.

A complete waste of a webseries with no proper storyline, poor screenplay, no proper emotional connect as well.. The movie shuttles between 1992 and 2000 but the cars, locations, guns and technology look more modern than that times which itself kills the authenticity of the plot.. They all fight for some "Thing" which is not properly explained about the meaning or significance which makes it boring.. Good cast but honestly not able to see good chemistry of the leads... Also good actors chosen and wasted...As usual surprises in betrayals which can no more excite and due to diwali too much of guns and crackers which also makes it very dull watch... Thankfully does not give a big lead with openended sub stories for season 2... There are no motivating factor for watching its part 2...