Change the ending, and its better than Saving Private Ryan.

Rating: 9/10 (2 November 2014)

In many ways, David Ayer's Fury exceeded Saving Private Ryan as the go-to, "war is awful" film. Fury deserves to sweep the Oscars technical categories with amazing sound effects, editing, cinematography, production design and visuals. The opening and closing shots in Fury were absolutely beautiful, and the score that underlay the film was somber and triumphant, much like the film. David Ayer proved himself ten times over as a director, and the tank battle scenes were probably the most tense I have been at the movies this year, and there was some scenes in the film that will probably put me off war forever. Even the film's disappointing conclusion was edited and directed beautifully.
I expressed extreme doubts about the casting going in - a group of Hollywood misfits like typecast John Bernthal, the eternally supporting man Michael Pena and Hollywood dung heap Shia LaBeouf. I am absolutely delighted to say that I was wrong. I really think that a cast of Hollywood misfits was a perfect choice for a tank crew of misfits (bible-basher, Latino, brute, kid) I am opening my heart to LaBeouf after seeing the sensational performance he gave in this film as "Bible" Swan. John Bernthal stole every scene he was in as the asshole Grady Travis. Michael Pena was slightly less impressive but still brought a lot to the performance. Contrarily, the two who I went into the film excited for (Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman) were solidly adequate at best. I feel that any multitude of actors could have delivered in those generic roles without much effort, and whilst I enjoyed watching Lerman's baptism by fire, I feel that Bernthal and LaBeouf deserve most of the acting praise. The cast worked well together and boasted some absolutely sensational chemistry, and A SAG Cast Award nomination is extremely warranted here.
The screenplay was overall rather disappointing, and whilst delightful acting and direction glossed over it in many places, at times I could see dead weight or wrong choices that could have been altered. Case in point, the film's extremely disappointing conclusion. Just like Edge of Tomorrow, an otherwise flawless movie was undone by a completely nonsensical and thoroughly clichéd ending. I could see the film's ending coming a good 15 minutes in advance, and overall the action packed conclusion felt like it would be more at place in a Michael Bay movie than what was meant to be an anti-war film.
Overall, Fury is one of the best films of 2014, and I would consider it in my Top 3 were it not for the ending.