Fury

2014

Director: David Ayer

Writer: David Ayer

Stars: Brad Pitt, Shia LeBeouf, Logan Lerman

IMDb rating: **********

My rating: *****

I do not like modern war films. Saving Private Ryan is just an annoying film and any other modern war film is just never any good, but I decided to give ‘Fury’ a go as I was told it wasn’t like the others. It is not. ‘Fury’ is so much more than a war movie, it’s gritty realism gives you the horrors of war, and how soldiers had to respond to them, it is about men trying to hold onto their humanity under such gruelling conditions.

This film is contained to the tank, giving it a claustrophobic feel. Scenes are either inside or around the tank, this is the movies focal point that we are never given a rest from.

In other war films, you see tanks in the background, they blow up, whoops. You never think about the men inside the tank because you never see them, this film invites you into their deepest, darkest moments, and their best with spectacular, well-crafted battle scenes that are new and profound. These men where together all day, everyday inside this tank, they are never given a rest from its enforcing nature, and as the audience, we are given no reprieve from from it, much like the men themselves. Their whole life is in that tank.

The film has a kind of destructive beauty, with amazing shots captured inside the tank, getting up-close and personal with the characters you meet and feel for, and how, even though everything around them is slowly fading away, they never give up, they carry on and give it the best they got.

The acting in this film is superb, lemme just get one thing straight, I do not like Brad Pitt’s acting, I’m sure he’s a wonderful person, but any film that he’s in is just ruined by his acting. But in ‘Fury’, he brought it to another level, he is amazing. Capturing the cockiness and leadership needed to hold these men together both emotionally and physically. And in solitary moments showing a side of him not shared with other where he fights with the emotions inside himself. Also, I never thought that Shia LeBeouf’s acting was bad, just eccentric, so why people think it’s a miracle for his acting to be anything above good astounds me. In this film he brought it, I mean really brought it. He introduced a whole new Shia who I love, his acting is by far the best in the film and the most realistic I’ve ever seen, well done Mr LeBeouf. Also the new kid on the block Logan Lerman is a superb actor, really bringing fear into his eyes and making us believe that he truly has no idea what he is doing. This film is perfectly casted with Peña and Bernthal also showing amazing acting skill and all of the actors worked hard to understand their characters and why they acted so and how they really felt.

This film is a true testament to how modern war films should be done, the cinematography and score where unlike anything I’ve heard in this kind of movie, and it made the experience unlike anything before, I love this film, well done Ayer.