REVIEW: Major Payne

By JiMyriah B.

Last week was Veteran's day and we had a big assembly about veterans, and the celebration of military personnel reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Major Payne.  The movie reminds how honoring veterans can be a sad but funny holiday as you watch it with your loved ones. It can be sad especially for those who have lost a loved one in combat, but funny movies like Major Payne can provide comedic relief.  A summary of the Major Payne is as follows. When a recently discharged Marine struggles to adjust to civilian life, his commanding officer brings him back to the military to train and lead a group of misfit JROTC cadets. Hilarity ensues. Overall, Major Payne is a great movie. 

One reason why I love Major Payne is because I love Major Payne's character in the movie. He is very funny and very blunt to the cadets and I really like that about him. A great example of this is ¨From this day forward, your asses belong to me!¨ 

Another reason why I love Major Payne is he actually uses real military equipment on the misfit cadets. An amazing example of that is ¨Who´s the dummy now?¨ after throwing a real life grenade at Alex Stone, one of the misfit cadets. 

The very last reason why I love Major Payne is because I love very much how he compares the misfits cadets to insects. A very excellent example of that is ¨I have eight weeks to turn you gaggle of maggots into a well-disciplined cadet unit!¨

Izzionna R., a senior at AHS a person who has watched the movie a couple times has quoted as saying, ¨You should watch Major Payne because it's about a military soldier teaching kids in ROTC and at first he was rough with the kids but as time goes by he starts growing a soft spot for the kids.¨ 

Anthony C, another student at AHS who has watched the movie whom I know from Spanish 2, is quoted as saying, ¨It´s a lovely comedy and very well written, would recommend it.¨ 

Turning to the experts, professional critics are more split.  One  review from commonsensemedia.org said that it was their favorite movie and that they never expected anything but it was hilarious.  Another reviewer, iconic film critic Roger Ebert, said, “Cynically made, painfully long comedy without a single laugh.”  

Overall, I give it 8.5 out of 10 stars for me. I definitely recommend people who love to honor their loved ones on Veterans day and can be reminded that sometimes a movie can provide comedic relief. You can look on IMDB to see where it is available to stream.