Verdict
Summary
Sort of a goofier riff on Kindergarten Cop that obliterates any sense of subtlety into oblivion with its sometimes wildly inappropriate stabs at humor and Wayans’ style of spoofery and delivery of dialogue (some of which is sort of funny, most of which is just weird and dumb), but I would maintain that this would’ve worked a lot better if it hadn’t been done in a silly way and instead played it completely straight.
Plot:
A decorated soldier with no more wars to fight becomes an ROTC drill instructor.
Review:
An unstoppable killing machine named Major Payne (Damon Wayans in a spoofy performance) has racked up a body count that rivals Rambo’s, and when peace puts him out of commission, he needs to find a job as a civilian. He strikes out at the police academy for excessive force, and his commanding officer offers him a job: Work at a prestigious school academy as an ROTC drill instructor for a bunch of misfit boys. The job does not thrill him, but he takes it, completely unprepared to face reality as a Terminator-like solider. These kids are unprepared for his uncompromising approach to his task to whip them into shape. One kid is chubby, another has a heart condition, and the smallest of them is only six years old and still wets his pants. But his biggest challenge is the oldest kid, who is a rebel and refuses to take orders. When Payne tasks the kids with “stealing” the ROTC drill games trophy from a competing school, the kids take it literally and get busted when they try to snatch the trophy like a bunch of thieves, and so Payne offers them a chance to actually win the trophy fairly during the upcoming games competition between ROTC teams and military academies, which means that the kids are going to have to fall into Payne’s line of discipline.
Sort of a goofier riff on Kindergarten Cop that obliterates any sense of subtlety into oblivion with its sometimes wildly inappropriate stabs at humor and Wayans’ style of spoofery and delivery of dialogue (some of which is sort of funny, most of which is just weird and dumb), but I would maintain that this would’ve worked a lot better if it hadn’t been done in a silly way and instead played it completely straight. This is why Vin Diesel had a hit with The Pacifier or Arnold had a hit with Kindergarten Cop: They played it straight instead of as a comedy. While Major Payne is still mildly entertaining and has a heart masked in stupidity, it doesn’t work nearly as well as it should have. Nick Castle does what he can with this material, and thanks to an earnest score by Craig Safan (who scored Castle’s The Last Starfighter), the movie manages to still be watchable.
Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray of Major Payne comes in a new HD master from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, and special features include a commentary by Castle, an interview with Michael Ironside, who only has one scene in the movie as a drunk father, the trailer, and a slipcover.
