Sometimes it doesn’t get any better than a good old war movie. Fury is about a tank crew who have been together for a long time, starting in Africa and moving to France, Belgium, and now in April of 1945 find themselves finally in the heart of Germany as the war winds down. But as the leader Don, played by Brad Pitt, says near the beginning, “The war will end soon, but before it does, a lot more people have to die.”
The movie starts with a new private, Norman, joining the crew to replace a killed member. He was trained as a clerk but now finds himself a gunner on the tank Fury. He struggles with being a war soldier and the brutal nature of the job, as well as the daily life and death balance that comes with it. The movie shows a raw and unflinching account of the final days of the war, as well as the cold shield the soldiers cloak themselves in to protect their sanity, to allow them to do the things they must to win. As Norman learns these lessons, he becomes a member of the brotherhood. By the end, he ends up performing heroic deeds he never could have imagined.
Some good acting in this movie, by Pitt and one of my favorites lately, the unsung Michael Pena, but perhaps the star is Shia LaBeouf. The man may be batshit crazy, but he is one hell of an actor, and he is the center of every scene he’s in. He plays Boyd “Bible”, and throughout the film he is balancing his deeply religious views with the acts he is committing, and LaBeouf subtly conveys the daily dilemmas he faces. His performance is getting a lot of attention, if he can keep his life together off camera maybe he can get his acting career back on track after his recent speed bumps. Fury is a strong war film, it might not win many awards this season, but it is sure to get more than few nominations.
Jons Movie Takes 