World War 2 Brad Pitt movie

Rating: 8/10 (4 November 2014)

Fury is a brutal take on a tank unit called fury. We join the crew just after one of their crew members had been killed. And just a few hours later a new recruit Norman, is sent to fill the position. Set near the end of world war 2 fury jumps right into things. It assumes the audience is paying attention and doesn't really ever stop to let you catch your breath.
Now when you think of a world war 2 film starring brad pitt you probably think inglorious Bastards. And even after watching this film that won't change. Which is sad really, Because Brad was great as the unapologetic leader of fury. The entire cast great as well. I was really happy to see Shia Labeuf back at it and turned in a career best performance. But the focal point of the film is definitely Brad Pitt and Percy Jackson star Logan Lerman. Logan as Norman, is a young man that has never seen any action but by the end of the film he is just as hardened as the rest of his crew members. Jon Bernthal Is also a surprise getting some great development as the bully of Fury. But Shia and Micheal pena just don't have the development they should've had. This is really disappointing because they have moments near the end of the film were we should've cared about them and just didn't.
Speaking of the end, I'm not going to spoil anything but the concluding action sequence is one of the best that movies have to offer. It is utterly intense and beautifully shot. These were really the only things that were consistently great here. The cinematography and action.
Great sound design also boasts the action scenes to a new level. Listening to tank shells whistle by narrowly missing someone is a real treat. The brutality of the action was another great factor. Watching people being blown in half is not only gruesome but oddly satisfying. And it left craving the next tank fight only to be handed overly long scenes of talking that didn't help the film in anyway. Granted this is only a problem nearer to the end of the film but it's still hard to overlook. During an especially long break from action I actually started to think of how this review would go. That's how uneventful these scenes were. There was no character development and mostly nothing happened in most of these scenes.
Overall Fury is well acted, beautifully shot, and offers impressive action sequences. Although Shia LaBeouf and Micheal Penas characters are depressingly underwritten and some of the breaks between action scenes are completely useless.