Ignore the critics, The Pentaverate is worth watching
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(Image credit: Netflix)
(Image credit: Netflix)
Critics have been savage. James Field of Pajiba, for example, says that, “it appears Myers learned nothing in the past 14 years, and The Pentaverate is as big a dud as he’s ever made.”
While Critic Alex Hudson of Exclaim! said the show is, “little more than a cheap excuse for Myers to put on some prosthetics and do silly voices”.
Brian Lloyd of entertainment.ie simply stated that, “The Pentaverate is unbelievably bad.”
Here’s the thing, though – I’ve watched most things Mike Myers has starred in since Wayne’s World, which I still quote to this day, so I ignored the critics and watched The Pentaverate in its entirety to make up my own mind.
Here’s my take.
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Visually, The Pentaverate is very WTF?!(Image credit: Netflix)
Visually, The Pentaverate is very WTF?!
Visually, The Pentaverate is very WTF?!
(Image credit: Netflix)
Let’s do this in a good old what’s good and what’s bad structure. But before we do that, here’s a brief summary of what The Pentaverate is.
Ok, so premise established, what does The Pentaverate do that makes it worth watching?
(Image credit: Netflix)
The good truth about The Pentaverate
If you’re a fan of Mike Myers getting kitted out in a bunch of prosthetics and putting on a series of comedy accents then you’re well served here, as Myers plays every member of the 5 Pentaverate rulers bar one, as well as the show’s comical Canadian reported protagonist Ken Scarborough, who undertakes a mission to uncover the secret society. Myers also pops up as a few other characters, too.
The show visually is also impactful, veering between medieval fantasy and modern Bond-style secret bases and facilities. You’ve got trippy lighting, decadent sets and some crazy and outrageous costumes, all with a backdrop of a soundtrack that often leans towards religious-chanty vibes. It all combines to a bit WTF?!, which I think is kind of this show’s base level.
The strongest part of the show, aside from the comedy that lands (a bit on that in a bit), is its skewering of parts of North American society, and specifically the conspiracy theorist movements that have gained so much traction in certain parts of the USA over the past few decades. From a conspiracy theory shock jock to a deluded truth hunter, Myers is bang on the money with these characters, and they have some of the best gags and lines in the show.
From a comedy point of view, there’s a lot of talent in this asides from Myers, including Jennifer Saunders, Keegan Michael Key, Richard McCabe, Rob Lowe and Lydia West, and for me there was always some good gags in each episode, even if as we will see the type of comedy varies dramatically and is in my opinion is without doubt very hit and miss. My typical viewing experience with The Pentaverate typically swung between being bemused, going WTF?!, enjoying some sharp satire and self-referential comedy and then, as we now get to, going “well, that didn’t quite work”.
(Image credit: Netflix)
(Image credit: Netflix)
But there’s no doubting it’s retro and hit and miss
The things about The Pentaverate that didn’t work for me was the show’s pretty consistent use of, typically Myers, gross out and crude humour. Scatological bits there most certainly are, as too a bucket load of double entendres and repetitive word play where a character mis-pronounces a name so it sounds rude. If anyone has seen Myers' older vehicles for this type of comedy, think of a certain fat Scottish character from Austin Powers, then you’re in the right ballpark here.
This mixture of comedy styles also comes wrapped up, for good chunks of the series, in a general Carry On movie vibe – which actually culminates in one episode with Myers getting into his birthday suit. Yes, you’ve been warned!
So, I regret nothing…
So, yeah, I honestly don’t regret watching The Pentaverate in full. Was it the best comedy show I’ve ever seen? No, far from it – it was hit and miss and a lot of its best gags were buried under cruder ones that didn’t work for me.
But I tell you one thing, I’m sure The Pentaverate will bedifferentto anything else you’ve seen recently, so if you find yourself looking for something new to watch onNetflix, I say give it a shot.
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