Review of Major Payne (1995) by Alec G — 07 Mar 2013

"Major Benson Winifred Payne" (Damon Wayans) is a United States Marine who has been trained to be a killing machine. However, when he fails to gain in rank a second time he is given his discharge orders. He then tries to adjust to civilian life, without success.

His former commanding officer then gets "Payne" a job as commanding officer of a Virginia prep school's Junior ROTC program where he is in charge of some young misfits. He also has to butt heads with a beautiful prep school counselor (Karyn Parsons), whom he instantly falls for.

His mission: to shape these misfits into a team for the Virginia JROTC Military Games. His personal mission: Change his ways to get the counselor, "Emily", to fall for him.

I've seen this story before, and done better with more laughs. There are some good jokes in this movie, but they are few and far between. I didn't laugh a lot, but when I did, the laughs were out loud.

One problem with this movie was chemistry. The kids had strong chemistry together, and with Wayans, and were pretty fun to watch. However, Parsons and Wayans didn't have the best chemistry in the entire movie.

Another problem was character development. We don't get the best development in the majority of the kids. One of the older kids gets more development than the rest, and does a good job when he locks horns with "Payne". Another kid gets lesser development, but his only job is to help "Emily" soften the "Major's" military attitude.

Wayans is probably the best of the entire cast, but he picked the most annoying voice for "Payne". He is also pretty comical when he is treating the kids like they are actual soldiers. Because of his performance, "Payne" is the most memorable character in the entire movie.

One thing parents should be aware of is that there is some fairly strong language, and mild violence. However, it's not even close to really graphic stuff.

Another bad part is that this movie is pretty predictable, and misses some laughs. Because the story has been done before with different situations, you already know how it's going to end.

Despite the flaws, it's still a fairly fun movie, mostly because of Wayans. I would say it might be a pretty good second choice if your first choice to rent is not available.