Damon Wayans (“The Last Boy Scout”, “Celtic Pride”) stars in the titular role in “Major Payne”, a comedy movie that combines “Full Metal Jacket” with “Kindergarten Cop”. Wayans made it big on tv’s “In Living Colour” with his brothers but some of his movies such as “Blankman” and “Mo’ Money” were underwhelming. “Major Payne” thankfully gives him enough good material to work with.

War and killing is all Maj. Payne knows. When there is nobody left to kill, he’s discharged but struggles to adapt to civilian life. He gets work training cadets at a private school. For a man used to hostile territory, he’s going to find this his toughest challenge yet.

Wayans puts on a fairly ridiculous voice as Maj. Payne. The character clearly borrows a lot from R. Lee Ermey’s Sgt. Hartman in “Full Metal Jacket”. Seeing Payne treat the kids the same way that he would treat men training in a combat unit. His obsession with violence is often hilarious. Wayans is a talented comedic performer and here, he has a good script. Karyn Parsons from tv’s “Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air” is good as Emily Walburn, a kind teacher at the school that tries to teach Payne some humanity. Most of the kids are okay but one of them is clearly not being played by a kid and it gets a little distracting. One of the kids is played by Damon’s nephew, Damien Dante Wayans

“Major Payne” won’t be winning any awards but it is a funny movie. I think it will make both kids and adults laugh. Kids will probably enjoy many of the more immature jokes while adults will enjoy spotting the ways in which Wayans spoofs Sgt. Hartman from “Full Metal Jacket”. This is easily one of the best comedy movies any of the Wayans family members have done and it’s worth checking out.