Where does one start with Fury? Is it the performances? Is it the authenticity? Is it the incredible sound mix? Is it Shia LaBeouf? Is it th...
Where does one start with Fury? Is it the performances? Is it the authenticity? Is it the incredible sound mix? Is it Shia LaBeouf? Is it the tank?
As the Allies make their final push at the end of World War II, a battle hardened army sergeant Don Wardaddy Coller (Brad Pitt) leads a Sherman tank and her crew (made up of Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal and Michael Peña) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Out numbered, out gunned and our armoured, Fury is an absolutely riveting piece of cinema that will keep you on the edge of your seat for much of it’s 130 odd minute running time.
Written and Directed by End Of Watch’s David Ayer, Fury does an incredible job of immersing you into World War II. At times, it’s so immersive that things feel like a fly on the tank wall documentary. Coupled with an incredible sound mix, this is really something else. These days, lots of movies give surround sound the standard wham, bam, thank you mam. Not Fury. Yes, bullets and rockets whiz by, but it’s in the more subtler moments, like inside a house or inside the tank that a large plethora of rattles, groans and clocks ticking will actively have you looking around. If the sound mix doesn’t get some awards, there is no justice.
Brad Pitt is a fine actor. That’s well known at this stage, but his performance in Fury, while not a career best, is pretty close. Like alot of the tank crew, he has a conflict raging within, and while for Pitt’s character at least, it’s a little bit underdeveloped, at times he really is mesmerising to watch. He transforms from all round nice guy to asshole and everything else in between without breaking sweat and coupled with a bunch of actors, where some are pulling off career best performances the acting prowess on display is rather brilliant. Logan Lerman, plays a rookie recruit, more suited to typing than shooting Nazi’s and it’s his character that really is developed fully.
Initially, his role feels like a throwaway, but it spans the entire course of the movie and is a pretty fantastic journey to boot. The Walking Dead’s Jon Bernthal is almost unrecognisable in places and seems to really give it his all here with a performance that is full of subtlety and heart as well as insanity. While Michael Peña’s character is the least developed, and in places feels like an after thought, his performance is consistently good throughout. The real shining light here though, amidst all this quality is Shia LaBeouf. Yes he’s had his problems in the past, and yes stories were written about how he yanked out his own tooth and refused to wash unset, so he got a better feeling for what it would be like. Well, whatever he did, it worked. LaBeouf pulls off a career best performance here, and safe to say he is the best character in the movie. And I though I’d never say that. Genuinely, the guy is great.
Funnily enough though there is another member to the crew that doesn’t speak or bleed, and that’s Fury herself, the Sherman tank. Whatever way Ayer and his team have shot this, the film gives an amazing lifeness to a hunk of metal. Whether it’s how her name is nearly always on display, or the way the camera moves around her and how she’s framed in shot, she really is another character.It’s pretty obvious from the get go. And the finale will leave you with no doubt in your mind, that this tank is bursting with personality.
Speaking of tanks, it’s the tanks that fill the screen with furious (sorry) set pieces with Nazi limbs being blown to smithereens amidst a hail of gun fire, rockets and imperial lasers…or tracer bullets. These set pieces are incredibly well put together and time and time again, you’ll be on the edge of your seat.
However, all that good stuff aside, Fury isn’t without it’s faults. It’s got a few continuity issues, the most obvious one in the finale where day turns to night in literally 20 seconds. It’s glaringly obvious and regardless of what argument could be made for it, it completely removes you from the movie with a jolt. The pacing works really well for the best part, but in the middle it hangs achingly too long on one particular scene. While it’s not enough to derail the movie in any sense, it is quite noticeable. However, the good far out weighs the bad here.
This is going to be one of the best movies you’ll see this year. It’s the greatest war movie since Saving Private Ryan and has a phenomenal cast, soundmix and is entertaining from beginning to end. An absolute must watch!
