A very entertaining and very realistic war film; till a point.

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2015)

The narrative of "Fury" (Ayer 2014) is laden with war film clichés, but they all work as a vehicle for character development and interaction, which makes them more effective than a completely original and surprising narrative which doesn't leave enough space for the story to be told.
It's been a while since we've had a war film on the circuit where the war and the fighting of the war is a main plot line. Reality has become more and more important in cinematic story telling over the last decade or so with films striving to get closer to what events would look, sound and be like if they weren't choreographed by a screen writer, and watching a world war two tank film with this as a key element is incredible. Ayer did an amazing job in making a tank feel vulnerable and indestructible where many other films and TV shows have mostly shown them as plain war machines. The film plays with tension and anticipation incredibly well and I can't remember when last I felt this emotionally involved in the development of a war film. INSERT: The reason for this is the solid characters, their interactions, relationships and development, which is the best narrative part of this film, as it should be.
I'm slightly disappointed in the ending of the film as the first three quarters works really hard to convince you that it's all real and it succeeds at it, then the conclusion is so censored for audience approval that it subverts a lot of the force the film builds up. To hold off on any spoilers I'll just say that the film is violent and gory; at the pinnacle of the story however it tones down on the gore to not leave the audience with a bad taste in their mouth, while also keeping the romanticized war idea alive. That was disappointing.
The most powerful war films are those that don't try and sprinkle your drink with essence of rose; war is violent, people die, and they don't look pretty when they do it.
Shia LaBeouf is really starting to make a name for himself as a serious actor and the role he portrays in "Fury" (Ayer 2014), and the way he portrays said role, really counts in his favor. Likewise, it's been a while since I've seen Brad Pitt in a film that requires more of him than just arriving on set and he how fulfilling it is to see him really act. This is not to say the other members of the tank crew didn't do an amazing (acting) job; Jon Bernthal specifically was incredibly effective in his role and I had the appropriate mixed feelings towards his character as a result.
This film could have been better, and I blame a need to be accessible and enjoyed as entertainment for this shortcoming. Ayer should have stuck with the power he started with and while some audience members might have left the cinema a little distraught than you would have wanted, the story of "Fury" (Ayer 2014) would have been much better for it.