Fury

David Ayer's Fury is a remarkable technical achievement, putting us right in the middle of brilliantly staged World War II battle sequences.  Where the movie is less assured is with its screenplay.  The characters are simply too basic to care much about.  I am recommending the film solely on the experience and the rush of the battle scenes, which make up a large majority of the film.  I just wish the film had a little more on its mind when the bullets aren't flying.  

This is far from Ayer's best film (that remains End of Watch), but it is easily his best looking.  His sense of realism and creating the tension and chaos of battle is truly amazing.  I have a hunch that war historians and aficionados will get the most out of Fury,  They'll appreciate the attention to detail in the scenes depicting the planning of battle, as well as how the war scenes have been staged with an eye for accuracy.  The visuals, the performances and the details have been done with such care, you almost wish that the screenplay was up to the same level.  However, it is often repetitive and one-note, with thin characterizations and having little to say other than "war is hell".  If the movie didn't capture the horrors of war and the feeling of being trapped in a claustrophobic tank in the heat of battle, it probably wouldn't seem all that special.  Fortunately, it does, so it does feel special in a sense.

Brad Pitt is Sgt. Don "Wardaddy" Collier, the commander of a small group of men who pilot and man a Sherman tank across Nazi Germany during the final days of the war.  The crew is small and ragtag, and the tank itself is severely under armored and underpowered compared to the vehicles that the enemy has.  Yet, they have survived this long on their skill and each other.  Pitt does a good job playing Sgt. Collier as a man who has been fighting the war so long, he's built up somewhat of a resistance to the horrors around him.  However, the performance never seems far removed from the one he gave in Inglorious Bastards.  As the film opens, one of his men has died in action, and is immediately replaced with Norman (Logan Lerman), a fresh-faced rookie who has no experience whatsoever with fighting or working with tanks, and was literally plucked by the military from his desk job as a typist.

Collier initially wants nothing to do with the young recruit suddenly thrust into his group, but over time, his attitude softens.  There is supposed to be a bonding relationship between the two men, and while it comes through in some way, it should have come across stronger in Ayer's screenplay.  The other men on Collier's team Trini "Gordo" Garcia (Michael Pena), Boyd "Bible" Swan (Shia LaBeouf) and Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis (Jon Bernthal).  Again, the bond and sense of brotherhood that these men share is there, but really should have been emphasized.  We get a sense of comradeship, but they don't exactly stand out as individuals.  The film follows the five men as they carry out their mission, taking out the last remaining members of the Nazi party as their hold on Germany slowly but stubbornly begins to fall.  As the film reaches its final moments, Collier and his men will face a nearly impossible battle, and must decide if they will take a stand or not.

Fury is a visceral and brutal recreation of the horrors of the battlefield, as we see soldiers that are already dead being crushed into the mud as tanks roll over them, and staggering depictions of violence.  It's obvious that these battle scenes, and not the characters or their interactions, is where the film's main focus lies.  Does this lessen some of the dramatic impact that the film could have had?  Absolutely.  But the depiction of war here is so kinetic and terrifying that I found myself completely involved.  It actually seems when the movie steps away from battle and focuses on the men that things come dangerously close to slowing to a standstill.  There is an extended scene where Sgt. Collier and Norman spend some time in an apartment with two German women that doesn't work as well as it should, because the scene just seems to go on too long, and could have easily been trimmed while still getting the point across.  I understand why the scene is in the film, but due to the weak characterizations, it doesn't work as well as it should.

As long as you are expecting accurate depictions of battle, you will enjoy this.  David Ayer has a technically brilliant recreation of the horrors of war.  I just wish he had paid as much attention to the men fighting as he did to the details of war.  Fury may not be as emotionally compelling as I may have liked, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its own raw power.

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