A squadron of American tanks rolls along single-file in a grim, gray Germany countryside. Panzer missiles blast out from the barrels of launchers that German children in the treeline to the left are holding, and one of the tanks lights up in a brilliant red. Screaming, a tank operator forces open the hatch of the vehicle, rolls into the ground, and, not wanting to burn alive, quickly draws his handgun and shoots himself in the head. Bullets from the other operators whiz and raze through the trees and cut down the children.
This is Nazi Germany in 1945. This is “Fury.” Set at the tail end of WWII, “Fury” follows the story of five members of a tank unit desperately trying to fight their way to the Nazi capital after suffering staggering loses from the superior German armor and firepower. Don ‘Wardaddy’ Colier (Brad Pitt) leads his crew deep behind enemy lines in a tank called Fury.
Wardaddy leads Trini Garcia (Michael Pena), a wise-cracking tank driver, Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf) a deeply religious man who fears his god and operates the main gun and Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal) the aggressive tank ammunition loader.
After becoming war torn from leaving trails of Nazis in their wake, the members are disheartened when a young man, Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) is sent to replace a man they just lost on the battlefield, despite the fact that he’s a typist and has had only eight weeks of training.
If there’s anything that “Fury” does well, it’s clearly showcasing the horrors of war, (like sharing a tank with Shia LaBeouf). The film does an excellent job of showing no mercy in terms of showing how harrowing the effects of war are on humans.
Pitt is, of course, great as always. Viewers of “Inglorious Bastards” are reminded of how brilliant he is when bellowing orders at others, but he truly steals the show when he separates himself from the rest of the unit, showing us a soldier that can barely keep himself together as a result of the carnage.
Through Lerman’s Norman, the audience witnesses one of the film’s more interesting journeys – changing from an young man who wanted nothing to do with killing another human being to a vicious fighter trying to survive.
Although a big, farfetched standoff event in the film’s third act somewhat detracts from the subtle seriousness and gravity of the film, “Fury” pushes movie goers to the front lines in one of the deadliest times in WWII for tank operators: the end. It was definitely a fresh way of approaching the subject matter, and although it isn’t “Saving Private Ryan,” it does have some exceptional performances and great scenes that present the bravery of these military units and the calamity of their situation. I give it a seven out of ten.
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