Amazon.com video review:
Let's face facts here: You don't watch a movie like Major Payne
for
its artistic merit any more than you'd watch Schindler's List for
its
comedy. If you go in thinking otherwise, you're bucking for a
disappointment. So it's a pleasant surprise to discover that Major
Payne is more entertaining than a barrel full of bad reviews would lead
you to believe. It's a totally formulaic comedy about a bunch of misfit
kids
who turn into a crack squad of skillfully disciplined ROTC cadets, but
Damon
Wayans is spot-on hilarious in the title role as the hardened military
bulldog who whips the little slackers into shape. Wayans plays the role as
if killing and warfare were the only joys in life, and when he finds
himself
cast adrift without a military commission, a scene that directly parodies
Apocalypse Now lets you know that Wayans (who cowrote the script)
is
going to bring something new to this routine scenario. Major Payne's idea
of
a good bedtime story is to recall his worst battlefield horrors, and Wayans
gives it just the right twist of comedy to put Payne's bullet-pierced heart
in the right place--he's really just a good guy with an iron-clad exterior.
The young recruits strut their stuff in the final round of their cadet
competition (their marching rap is good for a solid laugh), and director Nick
Castle keeps it all from becoming too stupid or over the top. It's arguably
only for Wayans's most ardent fans, but as a send-up of all the great movie
drill instructors, Major Payne is painlessly enjoyable. --Jeff
Shannon
