Fury

Tanks and the horrors of war

I don't think I really need to explain the premise of a movie based in World War 2, do I? Really? Okay. So, we start the movie out with a crew of tank operators who have just lost a man in the fight against the Axis. We are nearing the end of the war, so luckily enough (Dustin types, hoping the reader understands the sarcasm) they are assigned a fresh recruit straight from basic training, Norman (Logan Lerman). The Staff Sergeant in charge of our soldiers, affectionately named "Wardaddy" (Brad Pitt) must get this fresh recruit in the mindset to start killing people.

The story here is a real winner, and I find that I get to say that less often than I would like to. It's great to see a movie about WWII look at the soldiers that fought in a fresh light. I do love WWII movies usually, but if I had to see the soldiers that fought in it treated as some "holier than thou," "do no wrong" badasses again I was going to get a migraine. These men are troubled in a way I have only seen once before (in Band of Brothers a great war series that you should see). It shows the soldiers dealing with PTSD while still fighting the fight, and how it effects them while they are in combat. It shows a good amount of realistic comradery, and has some moments that could hit home with most soldiers today. It shows how hard it is for someone to kill another person, and what happens when a person is put in a war situation. There are so many layers here that you could take the movie a dozen different ways and be satisfied which ever way you take it. The only bad thing I really have to say about the movie is that you don't get to spend enough time with the crew of the tank. You get a lot of time with Brad Pitt, and Logan Lerman; but, the other characters get pushed aside. It may just be me being overly critical, but it just seems that the movie felt rushed at that point. I still felt for them when they were hurting, but not as much as I could have.

A special note has to be given to the action in this film, since it has (quite possibly) the best tank battles ever filmed. I feel that the inside of the tank should have felt a little more cramped but that is just me nit picking again. The violence here was realistic without being over the top, it was gory without being way too gory. It brought a certain level of gritty realism to the movie, without making it feel campy. It's always good to see a movie not try to buy your affection with seeing how many limbs they can explode in the air; while, maintaining the gritty realism of war audiences seek.

One thing that completely took me out of a few experiences was the music. It just didn't seem to fit the atmosphere sometimes. Like it was trying to hard to make you feel emotional about a certain scene, or not trying hard enough. It was like they shot a great movie, were proud of it, and decided to stick some intern behind the music promising him college credit. Sure the person tried their best to earn that college credit, but he still wasn't a professional and you could tell. Of course, the actual person doing the music here could have been professional, and that is something I couldn't distinguish.

Let us get into the acting. You know how lately Brad Pitt seems to have taken rolls where he could just be a cool customer and not show a whole lot of emotion? Well that actually works here, except that he shows just the right amount of emotion to sell his role to me. Not for nothing, I love Brad Pitt's acting, it just seems that he has been typecast lately. On the other hand I hate Shia LeBeouf's acting (usually), and they even found a spot where he did really well. Yes, the kid from the Transformers series has finally found an action role where he is actually believable as the character...since the character is less action oriented than the his fellow stars. Logan Lerman has always been a hit or miss with me, but this time he is definitely a hit. He encapsulates his character almost flawlessly, and I love the fact that they didn't try to macho him up to much (seems they learned from the mistake Michael Bay made with the aforementioned Shia LeBouf). Really, I have no problems with any of the actors here. Jon Bernthal and Michael Pena did well in their support roles, and the bit characters didn't drag down the performance.

Final Verdict: See it in Theaters Some missteps here with the story, as well as a horrendous soundtrack kept this movie from perfection; but, it was damn close. My only warning is for smokers since you will crave a cigarette through out the movie.... they smoke a lot.