728. Fury (2014)

Starring: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBoeuf

Director: David Ayer

Running Time: 134 mins

Fury is an American film following an American tank crew during the final push to invade Nazi Germany at the end of World War II that takes on a rookie driver who becomes involved in some of the most horrific and challenging battles of the war.

Right, while this is overall a very entertaining film, it’s one of three very distinct acts. It’s a relatively strong starter, with an intriguing establishing phase, while its finale is fantastic, however it spends too long in the middle phase attempting to be more emotional and deep, which made the whole thing feel a little inconsistent.

But before we get onto that, let’s start with the start. You get thrown right into the madness of the Second World War, and it’s an engrossing experience within minutes. Meanwhile, the characters are diverse, interesting, and fortunately likeable enough to be with for over two hours.

One of the other things that this film does well in the opening stages is create the very brutal atmosphere of the war, and the claustrophobic feel of the men’s tank ‘Fury’, which, in a move seemingly similar to Das Boot, really brings you right into the situation that the crew is in.

However, there’s a very lengthy (or at least seemingly long-winded) middle period in which the story almost seems to forget the whole actual brutality of the war, and tries too hard to be emotional, deep and thoughtful about some of the other people affected by the events of the war, as well as the moral issues faced by many of those who were involved, and while it is initially an interesting section, it goes on for too long at too slow a pace, which eventually became quite tough to be properly interested in.

Despite that, the film finishes on a high thanks to one of the most epic battle sequences I’ve ever seen on the big screen. Basically, almost akin to Saving Private Ryan, the movie ends with a no holds barred battle to the death, and while it may not be anywhere near as historical or realistic as Saving Private Ryan, and is a lot more action-oriented, it’s absolutely thrilling to experience, being totally unpredictable and incredibly encapsulating.

Overall, then, this gets an 8.2, because despite its disappointing middle period, it was very strong either side, particularly in the amazing finale.