Fury (2014), R, ★★★1/2

The crew of the tank called, well, "Fury".

There's one thing and one thing that they will do: kill Nazis. Wait a minute, isn't that premise from Inglourious Basterds? Well, ok, but this time this movie is set during World War II when real events are occurring and war is definitely hell. Don't get me wrong, but Inglourious Basterds is a hell of an entertaining war film by Quentin Tarantino also starring Brad Pitt. This movie, however, depicts the horrors of war that all of the soldiers go through to maneuver and set up their strategy and tactics supported by strong performances by the cast.

The setting is in April, 1945 near the end of World War II when the Allies are entering Germany. The Nazis are so desperate to win the war that they want to recruit women and children as soldiers. The only positive aspect in Germany's side despite that they are over empowered, they beat the Americans in tank battles. There are not many left on the Americans' side.

US Army Staff Sgt. Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt) commands an M4A3E8 Sherman tank and he is determined to defeat the Nazis. He commands a team consisting of Army technician Boyd "Bible" Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Army Cpl. Trini "Gordo" Garcia (Michael Peña), and Army PFC Grady Garcia (Jon Bernthal). They are tired as they argue and berate each other as they are attempting to fix the tank and while fixed, they head to their base.

The lieutenant questions Collier as to what happen to the rest of the platoon and Collier replies that "Fury", the tank, is the only one remaining in the platoon. As he eases his stress and lets his emotions off, Collier witnesses all the dead bodies taken to the base. Collier sees German POWs in the area with disgust. As he gets out, a young soldier, Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), a typist, is inexperienced with combat and is assigned to Collier's division. Ellison meets with the rest of the crew and is dismissive of him and Collier commands him to clean up inside the tank and he cleans up some of the gruesome images, including a gunner's face that has been blown off.

As Collier leads the convoy into the field, Fury's crew throws Ellison into the tank and order him to shoot every Nazi in the way. Later, as all the tanks are in the battlefield, they attack and there are consequences going on as they lose the lieutenant and its tank because Ellison's mistake of not reacting and shooting. The crew teaches him to be a man as they urge him in one scene to kill a Nazi right in front of him as Collier hits Ellison constantly. It is an intense scene in many intense scenes.

The crew getting to know Ellison (Logan Lerman).

It is a film that depicts not just the horrors of war but it also the depicts the personal side of war which is earning respect from fellow comrades and working together to defeat the Nazis. But also, there is not just noise and violence revolving around these soldiers, there's a sequence where it plays out like the French plantation scene in Apocalypse Now Redux (I prefer the original version.) where both Collier and Ellison are treated by two German women and give them lunch. Ellison shares a moment with the young girl and when they are about to enter the bedroom, the older woman stops them but Collier says that they are both young and alive. It illustrates whether or not two people from different countries will see each other again because war is unpredictable and nobody knows the outcome.

A big plus in the film is the strong performances amongst the whole crew. It is almost equivalent to the acting in Saving Private Ryan as in Spielberg's masterpiece, everybody tells their own personal stories. There as not as many in this film which is a little quibble, but I did not care too much. Brad Pitt really controls the film as the lead making a dominant presence following and paying attention on what he is doing and how he is controlling his men in the heat of war. LaBeouf is committed, Lerman is quite vulnerable and tense, and Peña and Bernthal are quite fantastic in their roles.

It is not quite on the levels of Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now, which this film has echoes of in terms of its tone in the characters. There is a scene of transition that bothered me where a character accepts Ellison as a good man and also that Collier would not leave his tank because it is "his home" and it encourages every crew member to work with him til' the end. It is a clichéd and corny scene. It gets going to its fiery climax and gets a little too ambitious but acceptable. But, they are about 10-15 minutes of the movie in an otherwise, superbly crafted war film directed by David Ayer, who has come back from a forgettable effort in Sabotage. He does not introduce us with anything new, but it is just a heck of a great time to see war members working together in battle especially in a tank.

***1/2