“This is the best job I’ve ever had.” A crew of five American soldiers fighting an entire battalion of Germans, keep repeating this to themselves, every time they fight tooth, nail, guns, bombs, cannons from the shell-dusty confines of their ‘home’-a war tank called ‘fury’.
Starring Brad Pitt, this World War II film takes a hard lined, gritty look at Allies relentlessly attacking and battling their way through Nazi Germany. Dirt, grime, scars and bullet marks define each of the five soldiers, led by ‘war daddy’ (Pitt) surviving through North African campaign. They are joined by a young, typist rookie; Norman (Logan Lerman) recruited 8 weeks back.
The raw war virgin is disgusted by the ruthless killings and refuses to participate. War daddy takes it upon himself to force the novice to take to a gun like his former typewriter. The clichéd yet likeable bonding and the transformation of the two (Pitt starts addressing him as ‘son’) along with the other three who curse, quote the Bible and joke around when not fighting, form the crux of the rest of the story.
A lovely, long sequence of a semi forced romance with violent undercurrents, between Norman and a German girl, aided by war daddy, serves as a perfect counterpart to the plot. A brief time at the piano is evocative of what peace looks like, even if it is illusional or temporary in the war ravaged country. This scene lifts the film above an average war film.
The story moves to an explosive climax where the motley crew stuck inside their sole weapon-the Sherman tank turned furnace-find themselves facing a 300 men German army. A small, silent interlude with just the rustle of leaves heightens the danger ahead, faced by the five-soldier family. Heroism and bravery mark this grand horrifying war film, written and directed by David Ayer. Action, horror of dead bodies and blood are smoothly balanced out by the underlying thick human emotion throughout the weary journey across the German countryside.
Those who enjoy war movies and Brad Pitt as a middle-aged war veteran, might want to sit through Fury. But the point remains typically Hollywood: Americans are good and Germans are bad. How much of that, one wants to buy, is a question of choice.
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