We had spent almost three decades without news of a custom project by Mike Myers. The great Canadian comedian was specialized lately in iconic appearances in big productions or ambitious titles of those that look sideways at the awards. Good thing he’s already here’The Pentavirate‘, an endearing, coarse and twisted six-episode miniseries for Netflix.
Canada will save us
Camouflaged within a plot of absolute conspiracy, full of extravagant characters and a lot of metahumor, ‘The Pentavirato’ is, in reality, a simple excuse for the genius behind ‘Wayne’s World’ or the trilogy of austin powers I can go back to walk naked across the screen.
Myers reinvents his own strip-comedy hit by adapting it to these strangers times of platforms full of content motley. Despite reserving up to eight characters, the star of the show has known how to surround himself with the best possible company. The much loved Debi Mazar, Lydia West, Ken Jeong, Keegan-Michael Key (note the joke at the expense of his show with Peele), Maria Menounos or Rob Lowe himself contribute their grain of sand in a straight-to-the-point comedy.
But if there is someone who should stand on the shoulders of this pentagonal square, it is Jeremy Irons, who achieves something that very few, almost none, had achieved before: eliminating the need (and perhaps the option, but I don’t remember) of skip the intro of each episode, a miracle that came out of the head of its head, the chameleonic genius with a thousand faces.
The story of the Netflix miniseries tells of how a secret but nice society that has influenced world events for centuries now faces a threat from within. It will be time for a veteran Canadian journalist on the verge of retirement to try to save the planet. And it’s not just any one, it’s about the oldest member of CACA News.
Yes, Mike Myers has returned to retell poop, ass, fart and pee jokes (and the occasional virile member), but with the confidence and courage of someone who knows perfectly the mechanics of comedy. Yes, the humor of the Pentavirato is sometimes too silly, but you should see it as a virtue, and if you like Austin Powers movies, this is just what you’ve been needing. You and the platform.
Netflix scores a point being an accessory to the crime that he is offering, especially in a great last episode that confirms that all roads lead, in the end, to the same place. Fortunately that is the place of laughter. It is also quite likely that next weekend you will have already forgotten about it, but at least this week it will be more bearable.