TWB REVIEWS FURY
Fury is a decent war movie with tense and unsettling scenes but lacks the emotional depth to make it into the pantheon of memorable war movies of the last twenty years. The battle scenes — two actually — were pleasantly executed. I never knew of the antitank used by the Nazi army but whoa, it was a brickhouse and produced many casualties in the wake of its scene debut. The casts were not given much to do about something, as they were clichéd and no more indifferent to other depictions within this genre. We have The Hard Nosed Captain, The Newbie, The Religious, The Immigrant, and The Degenerate; a great recipe for a color by numbers war movie plotline, however, you weren’t given much to root for with these ruffians. You only had to because support for the latter would have you hailing Hitler in a crowded movie theater with a bunch of folks who would not (so blatantly) advertise their secret love for a coward dictator and his famous stash. Remember the uproar Boys in the Hood caused at it’s debut?… No bueno. Don’t do it. Keep racism in the comfort of your own home.
Someone asked me if Brad Pitt was A. The Brad Pitt who wants to be there or B. The Brad Pitt who is just doing this for the paycheck? My initial answer was B and as I had the weekend to consider this question more, I maintain my position. The passionate Brad Pitt was on display here but I don’t think there was enough emphasis on the relationship tank crew who occupied the Fury which spanned almost a decade. Yes, there were instances when there loyalty came into question and inner turmoil almost erupted into utter violence but it was just a small sample of the main dish. Very seldom does too much exposition work but in this case I believe it would allow viewers to relate more to the characters and understand their decision to fight when the odds were completely out of their favor.
We know what happens to the Fury — the trailers and marketing materials told us as much and at one hundred and fifty three minutes long, more insight into the bond between captain and crew would serve better for the end payoff of a glorious death. Shia’s perpetual tears would have you, the viewer, wiping them from your own cheeks if his characters own inner demons were exposed. And of course I came to my own conclusions after the credits but by then it was SQUIRREL! Too late. I didn’t care anymore.
FURY
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I agree with almost every point you make. I wanted to know more about them as a group to fully understand their fierce dedication to their leader. It was enjoyable but there are other “war” movies that are more indepth and have broader character development that I would watch over and over again. This one will most likely be a one time viewing.
We as moviegoers will usually watch movies over and over again for the characters. Although Full Metal Jacket and Platoon were depressing films, we watch them repeatedly because not only are they great films about war, they were great films about people at war.
Lynn you make good points. Hopefully you like our site and will leave more comments. The more talk back, the better we get. Keep reading us, and we’ll keep going. We value insightful comments like yours, as opposed to just the spam or hate speech we get. You’re right totally, the men at war actually make the war movie. The only reason Full Metal Jacket was amazing was because we KNEW Pyle and Joker. By the end of Saving Private Ryan we knew that whole squad and really wanted to know whether this Ryan kid was worth it. You have to love these men put in impossible situations, otherwise these movies are just noise and Fury.