Fury (****)
Directed by: David Ayer
Starring: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman,
Shia Labeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, Scott Eastwood, Brad
William Henke, Xavier Samuel, Anamaria Marinca, Alicia von Rittberg
Seen: January 31st 2015
**** Out of ****
It feels like a really long time since
an all-out battle specific war-movie grace our screens. In recent years war
movies have been more focussed on recent conflicts (Lone Survivor, Zero Dark
Thirty), science fiction battles (Edge of Tomorrow, Ender’s Game), or the
stories around the fringes of WWII (Emperor, The Monuments Men). Fury is
all-out middle-of-the-conflict war; towns are bombed around the heroes, the
heroes shoot and are shot at, and survival is only achieved through merciless
grind. The hopelessness, the dehumanising effect, and the vilifying effect of
war are all investigated in-depth in Fury, and it’s a fantastic ride. Even
though it deals with heavy fare, Fury is exhilarating, shocking, entertaining,
and touching in almost equal parts. War never ends quietly, but rather with a
bang and a whimper.
It’s April 1945, World War II is ending,
and one tank crew has won infamy for their survival ability. Their American
Sherman tanks are inferior to the German Tiger tanks and they’ve been in the
battle in Northern Africa, France, and Germany with one constant, they’re
fighting Germans. Staff Sergeant Collier, Wardaddy (Pitt), manages to keep his
crew alive past reasonable expectations. The movie starts with the tight-knit team
having lost their bow gunner Red. Technician Swan, “Bible” (LaBeouf), Corporal
Garcia, “Gordo” (Peña), and Private Travis, “Coon-Ass” (Bernthal) don’t take
too kindly to the young army typist assigned in Red’s place, Norman Ellison
(Lerman), who has to earn his place. It’s too much for him to start with, as he
has to witness and be forced into the terrible nature of war to come to terms
with his responsibilities as a gunner and part of the crew – if not he
endangers the crew, something that creates high tension to start with. The crew
faces terrible odds and tough events that make the movie so engaging that you
only realise with the closing shot that this movie is really just about a tank,
a tank named Fury.
Fury features truly spectacular tank
warfare, and the tension is racked up to high levels before short reprieves focusing
on either continuing the story or, in short bursts, revealing to us the horrors
and inhumanity of war. Bodies are bulldozed into mass graves and random
selections of German citizens are seen walking to American camps in surrender,
among them even a woman in her wedding dress. War affects everyone and every
part of society, and Fury does not shy away from this reality. The characters
are real and fully fleshed, each one presenting not just a caricature of some
personality, but someone with a back story. Director David Ayer also wrote and directed the terrible Sabotage,
where every character also had a nickname. Where Sabotage lamely utilized nicknames
to establish and develop characters, the nicknames in Fury are simply small elements
to further establish characters, a much better and more subtle way to tell a
story.
Brad Pitt is brilliant as tough-as-nails
Wardaddy, a character who takes private moments to cope with the war’s effects on
him. Logan Lerman is fantastic as the innocent young man who slowly turns into
yet another war machine while navigating a roller-coaster of lessons and events
sure to leave lasting scars. Shia LaBeouf is impressive as the crew’s resident
Christian, having to defend his beliefs now and then from the crass (and
well-played by Bernthal) Coon-Ass while Peña’s Gordo also chips in.
Fury is one of the most impressive war
movies I’ve ever seen. I place it alongside Saving Private Ryan in terms of the
visceral impact it had on me. If you like war movies, do not miss this one!
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