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The Pentaverate is a new Netflix comedy where Mike Myers plays Ken, a reporter who’s an old letch, as well as all five members of a secret organisation, including Rupert Murdoch-like Bruce Baldwin, and Misha, who has a cod-Russian accent… although he’s meant to be Russian. All five are meant to be the most intelligent individuals in the world… I’m yet to be convinced, but they gather everyday to decide which global world disaster is the next one to be tackled – since they can seemingly solve these.
At the start, we’re told Charles Darwin was a Pentaverate member from 1882-1902… even though he died in 1882… but that appears to be the way it works. You apparently die and then can join this lot.
Jennifer Saunders plays the wizzened Maester of Dubrovnik, who is there to solve the death of Jason Eccleston, a former member of the clan, his passing leading to the induction of Keegan-Michael Key as Dr. Hobart The Pentaverate, a professor who they want to “solve climate change” in time for an event at The Meadows, and with the assistance of (or suffering from) a huge computer called MENTOR.
At first, it’s moderately interesting to watch, but not laugh-out-loud funny and making me want to stick with it. Most of the funnies are basic smutty gags, such as reference to a man called Dick who runs a hotel: Big Dick’s Half-way Inn. But it starts to fall when Misha’s accent ends up mispronouncing words, so, ‘count’ becomes the c-word, for example.
As it goes on, even after just two episodes, I get to the point where I’m done with this. Multiple Mike Myers just comes off as self-indulgent, and he and his writers have had almost 30 years to come up with a spin-off from 1993’s So I Married an Axe Murderer – a film I’ve long since forgotten and which hardly set the box office on fire, so it makes me wonder who was waiting for this?
As an aside, the picture format is a mix of 4:3 and 2.39:1, but I’ve no idea why.
The Pentaverate is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix now.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 30 minutes per episode (6 episodes)
Release date: May 5th 2022
Studio: Netflix
Format: 1.33:1, 2.39:1
Director: Tim Kirkby
Producers: Michael Amodio, Ryan McCormick
Creator: Mike Myers
Writers: Mike Myers, Roger Drew, Ed Dyson
Music: Orbital
Cast:
Multiple roles: Mike Myers
Dr. Hobart The Pentaverate: Keegan-Michael Key
Reilly Clayton: Lydia West
Patty: Debi Mazar
Maester of Dubrovnik: Jennifer Saunders
Narrator: Jeremy Irons
Himself: Rob Lowe
Herself: Maria Menounos
Exalted Pikeman Higgins: Richard McCabe
Fimbra Manus: Lauryn Alleyne
Ergo: Daniel Booroff
Sammy: Craig Conway
Mentor: Gregory Hoyt
Bill Durand, Netflix Executive: Donald Sage Mackay
Mrs Snee: Tanya Moodie
Anso: David Mumeni
Jane: Fiona Skinner
Darleen Windelchuck: Samantha Spiro
Skip Cho: Ken Jeong
Scarred Red Robe: Nicklas Kingo
Tattooed Red Robe: James Merrill
Meghan Markle: Sarah Mhlanga
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.