“Fury”
is the new WWII tank combat movie starring Brad Pitt. It was directed and written by David
Ayer. He earlier had written “U-571”, a
movie for which he had to apologize for historical inaccuracies. This time he took on a purely fictional story
of a tank in the waning days of World War II Europe. The tank is a M4A2E8 Sherman and it is
participating in the drive into Nazi Germany.
The crew is headed by Sgt. “Wardaddy” Collier (Pitt) and they have been
together since North Africa. They are
part of the 2nd Armored Division (the “Hell on Wheels”
division). The movie was filmed in the
English countryside and had a budget of approximately $80 million. The producers relied on four authentic M4s and
a Tiger 131 loaned by a museum. The
Tiger is the only operational one in the world and this was the first time a
genuine one was used in a war movie.
The
movie opens in the aftermath of what must have been a tank melee. The title tank is the sole survivor of its
platoon, but the assistant driver was killed.
This opens the hatch for a green replacement from the secretarial pool
named Norman (Logan Lerman). He is not
exactly welcomed with open arms (like all other replacements in war movie
history). Collier is determined to make
a man out of him. Actually, he is
determined to make him into the type of man that they have become. Norman will become a productive member of the
crew once he learns to kill anything that moves and executes any S.S. bastard
that crosses their path (because that’s what they would do to you). The arc is initiated with Norman starting off
as a reluctant warrior with some naïve morals.
He’s going to gain some testicles and lose that pesky conscience.
The
movie moves through the typical war movie flow of action followed by rest and
exposition. The combat scenes are
amazing and among some of the best of recent war movies. There is an assault across a field that
features a dual with anti-tank guns.
Urban warfare of the tank versus sniper variety. A four on one scrimmage against the Tiger which
ends up accurately reflecting the odds against Shermans. This particular encounter reflects back upon
the opening title card that proclaimed that American tanks were outgunned and outmaneuvered
by more advanced German tanks. What sets
Fury apart from this fact is that Brad Pitt is in command. The final cataclysm involves the defense of a
crossroads against a large S.S. infantry force.
It’s last stand time.
Surprisingly, the combat scenes are not shot in the “Band of Brothers”
and “Saving Private Ryan” style. They
rely mostly on explosions and tracers with a medium amount of quick cuts. Add to that the unique tank scenarios where
you are racing to get that shot off before it’s your turret that is blown to
Hell. The action will have you on the
edge of your seat, but not feeling dizzy.
You also will not need sunglasses to shade any bright colors. This film’s predominant color is mud. In case you don’t understand the enemy, the
music is very Wagneresque.
Unfortunately,
the rest and exposition scenes are troughs.
Some of the interactions between the crew and the maturation and
acceptance of Norman are awkward. There
is a painfully forced blooding of the newbie that defies reality and is offensive
toward WWII veterans. Ayer’s attempt to
show the truly horrible effects of war on the psyches of the “good guys” veers
too far into the trite territory of “warfare strips away your humanity”. There is also the equivalent of a
dysfunctional family’s Thanksgiving dinner that includes the war trumps
civilization theme.
The
combat scenes create enough good will from war movie lovers to overcome some
curious flaws. The film has some
extended lulls between the balls to the wall (which happens to be the only
graphic wounding that the movie does not depict) action scenes. Curious partly because Ayer finds no
opportunity to develop the characters.
They are all stereotypes. Pitt
plays the hardened leader who is haunted by losses (although he has apparently
lost only one man in over two years of serious action). The movie hints at some deep psychic wound,
but never delivers. It also implies that
the crew blames him for something, yet they are ready to die for him with
little questioning. The crew is
heterogeneous with the Bible-thumper named “Bible” (Shia LeBeouf probably not
having to act too hard), the psychopathic hick named “Coon-Ass” (Jon Bernthal
chewing scenery as a cracker, not a Cajun),
and the obligatory minority wise-ass named “Gordo” (Michael Pena loving not
having competition for audience appeal).
The acting is inconsistent. Pitt
is solid and obviously has watched film of previous actors playing the exact
same role. LeBouef is effective in
leaving one to wonder if “Bible” is supposed to be a nutcase or a role model. Depends on if you are a fundamentalist, I suppose. Lerman is in over his head and makes the arc
hard to believe. He is cursing up a
storm by the end, so there’s that.
Bernthal is the weak link. You
would be obnoxious too if you had dead meat tattooed on your fore-head.
The
movie is definitely more enjoyable if you have not seen a lot of war
movies. I found myself recognizing all
the characters (Norman = Upham) and themes from previous movies. Heck, the movie ends with a last stand, who
will survive scene. “We ain’t never run
before.” And like all fictional cinematic
last stands, don’t expect reality to interfere with the carnage. It is instructive to remind that this last
stand is not based on a true story like “The Alamo” or “Zulu”. As usual in a war movie aimed at the general
public, “Fury” builds to a climax that crosses over the line of reality into
the realm of ridiculous. However, up
until the end the film is a pretty good portrayal of the lives of tankers. The tank interior is authentic and the
operation is well-enacted. The soldier
talk is not jarring, although the addition of a catch phrase (“best job I ever
had”) is a bit lame.
Once
again I have the dilemma of not wanting to scare off any future war
movies. They come along so seldom these
days that you have to lower your expectations to not be crushed by unfulfilled
anticipation. “Fury” is a bit better
than I expected. I was skeptical about a
Sherman taking on the German army by itself.
The movie confirmed my fears, but it was not laughable and it’s not like
we have a lot of great tank movies for it to live up to. I am not a big Sherman fan, but I admire the
men who went into combat in them. This
movie does them justice, but to be a truly great war movie it needed a better
writer than David Ayer. With that said,
he has improved since “U-571”.
GRADE = B-
