Fury Movie Review
-Don "Wardaddy" Collier
There are a lot of words that I could use to describe David Ayer's Fury but this is the type of movie you have to see for yourself to genuinely experience. It was very real, in your face and had lots of heart. Ayer didn't shy away from gore but also didn't just throw it in there for entertainment value. It was a great combination of good story telling and superb performances from the whole cast. Brad Pitt, Michael Peña, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, and Jon Bernthal were actually all great. It's not very often that you get so many equally important characters in a film that all put on such great performances. I think that is one of the main aspects that sets it aside from any other war film and Ayer took it in a great direction.
I think it's important to know that this film is extremely character driven and not really plot driven. What I mean is that while there is of course a plot to analyze, there really isn't an end game that movie is working towards. Let's take Saving Private Ryan for example. It says it in the title itself, the focus and goal of the film is ultimately to find this private Ryan, so you have some idea of where the film is going. With Fury I didn't really feel that direction but that's not a bad thing at all. Actually I find it quite impressive because the film still kept me completely engaged regardless of the fact that I didn't know where it was heading. Another major aspect that stood out to me about this film was how it handled the concept of war. I've seen a handful of war films and often times war is glorified, made out to be something grand and inspiring but Fury took a different take on war. There was such an eerie and desperate feel that this film evoked. Tragedy and death were always around the corner and the soldiers had to just keep moving forward. The film takes place at the very end of World War 2 and it's clear in our main characters that this war has beat them down both physically and mentally. This was true for all of them except Norman (Lerman) an 18 year old stenographer who was thrust into the heart of battle with these hardened veterans.
The entirety of the film we follow these five men who essentially call a tank their home. After losing their machine gunner, Norman was assigned to replace him. Right from the start we see that he is just a kid who has never seen the atrocities of man and war. On the other hand we have "Wardaddy" (Pitt) who is the highest ranking officer of the lot and is looked up to as a leader by the other men. "Bible" (LaBeouf) is interesting quirky character who is very religious and stands upon an unshakable faith, more often than not finding a verse from the bible to quote in any given situation. "Gordo" (Peña) plays a funny Hispanic who adds the much needed humor to the very grim circumstances that these men are enduring. Also being up with your Spanish slang will give you a greater appreciation for some his jokes! Finally we have "Coon-Ass" (Bernthal) who's a southern brute with much complexity. His ignorance is overwhelming and his character is very distasteful, but somewhere deep down you know there is a good heart.
All five characters are given there fair share of screen time and development, but Norman gets the biggest focus and character arc. I first really saw a glimpse into Lerman's talent with The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I really enjoyed his performance. Although not as impressive in this film, Lerman did a great job portraying Norman. Being close to his age, I can only imagine the fear that he must have felt being thrown into this long and bloody war. Watching this film, I know the war was coming to a close, but at the time no one was really sure when the war was going to end and that's also a very scary thought. There were some very graphic and emotional scenes that put me on the edge of my seat and thinking back to them I appreciate them even more. I loved how this film put together a group of people from so many different walks of life and showed how similar they really were under such unfortunate circumstances. It also shed some light on the cruelty of war and how there are good and bad on both sides no matter what anybody says. The film did a good job hooking the viewer in at the start and was very strong at the finish, but somewhere along the way some might find it got a bit slow. That being said, it was a small bump in the road because the film was solid and the cast was great. The tank battles were intense and surreal and done amazingly. Definitely a unique form of warfare that hasn't gotten much attention over the years. I give Fury an 7.5 out of 10.
I think it's important to know that this film is extremely character driven and not really plot driven. What I mean is that while there is of course a plot to analyze, there really isn't an end game that movie is working towards. Let's take Saving Private Ryan for example. It says it in the title itself, the focus and goal of the film is ultimately to find this private Ryan, so you have some idea of where the film is going. With Fury I didn't really feel that direction but that's not a bad thing at all. Actually I find it quite impressive because the film still kept me completely engaged regardless of the fact that I didn't know where it was heading. Another major aspect that stood out to me about this film was how it handled the concept of war. I've seen a handful of war films and often times war is glorified, made out to be something grand and inspiring but Fury took a different take on war. There was such an eerie and desperate feel that this film evoked. Tragedy and death were always around the corner and the soldiers had to just keep moving forward. The film takes place at the very end of World War 2 and it's clear in our main characters that this war has beat them down both physically and mentally. This was true for all of them except Norman (Lerman) an 18 year old stenographer who was thrust into the heart of battle with these hardened veterans.
The entirety of the film we follow these five men who essentially call a tank their home. After losing their machine gunner, Norman was assigned to replace him. Right from the start we see that he is just a kid who has never seen the atrocities of man and war. On the other hand we have "Wardaddy" (Pitt) who is the highest ranking officer of the lot and is looked up to as a leader by the other men. "Bible" (LaBeouf) is interesting quirky character who is very religious and stands upon an unshakable faith, more often than not finding a verse from the bible to quote in any given situation. "Gordo" (Peña) plays a funny Hispanic who adds the much needed humor to the very grim circumstances that these men are enduring. Also being up with your Spanish slang will give you a greater appreciation for some his jokes! Finally we have "Coon-Ass" (Bernthal) who's a southern brute with much complexity. His ignorance is overwhelming and his character is very distasteful, but somewhere deep down you know there is a good heart.
All five characters are given there fair share of screen time and development, but Norman gets the biggest focus and character arc. I first really saw a glimpse into Lerman's talent with The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I really enjoyed his performance. Although not as impressive in this film, Lerman did a great job portraying Norman. Being close to his age, I can only imagine the fear that he must have felt being thrown into this long and bloody war. Watching this film, I know the war was coming to a close, but at the time no one was really sure when the war was going to end and that's also a very scary thought. There were some very graphic and emotional scenes that put me on the edge of my seat and thinking back to them I appreciate them even more. I loved how this film put together a group of people from so many different walks of life and showed how similar they really were under such unfortunate circumstances. It also shed some light on the cruelty of war and how there are good and bad on both sides no matter what anybody says. The film did a good job hooking the viewer in at the start and was very strong at the finish, but somewhere along the way some might find it got a bit slow. That being said, it was a small bump in the road because the film was solid and the cast was great. The tank battles were intense and surreal and done amazingly. Definitely a unique form of warfare that hasn't gotten much attention over the years. I give Fury an 7.5 out of 10.
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