Hits the nail on the head

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2014)

Fury is the most authentic war movie in a decade. Shot from the point of view of an American Sherman tank crew driving towards the heart of Nazi Germany in 1945, it is grim, visceral and remorseless, at the same time it is graceful, honest and uplifting.
Boyd- "Wait until you see it. Norman- "See what?" Boyd- "What a man can do to another man"
Wars are never good, even the ones we celebrate for being for the right reason. While we tend to gloss over the way it is waged, there is no denying the fact that it brings out the animal in us humans. Especially so the Second World War, that claimed over 80 million lives through genocide, massacres, civilian bombing, disease and starvation. Towards the end of the European theater of war, Hitler declared total war, throwing every man, woman, and child available at allied armies. Fury starts by saying that the American tanks were out-gunned and outnumbered by the German tanks. Sure the Tiger tanks were superior, but the allies outnumbered everything the Germans had, four to one.
Wardaddy: "I started this war killing Germans in Africa. Then I killed Germans in Italy, and then Germans in Belgium. Now I'm killing Germans in Germany."
Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) is an illustrious tank commander, leading a battle hardened crew, together since the North African campaign, Italy offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, in the final push towards Berlin. The tank was the most useful instrument of terror in WW2, and invariably for the crew, the tank is both their armor and their coffin. The fulcrum of Germany's blitzkrieg in 1939-40 was largely fast moving tanks, and the allies gave a taste of the same medicine 5 years later. The crew includes Shia LeBouf as Boyd Swan, Michael Pena as Trini Garcia, Jon Berenthal as Grady Travis, and new recruit Logan Lerman as Norman Ellison, who joins in place of the recently deceased assistant driver. Norman has never seen the insides of a tank, and is not ready for the kill or be killed job description. In a way much of the movie is about Norman coming of age as a soldier.
Irma: "Where are you going?" Wardaddy: "To take the next town. And the next. And the next. Till you guys give up"
The best part about Fury is that it does not shy away from depicting the horrors of war- blown up limbs, cut up torsos, crushed bodies, burning men shooting themselves, kids fighting tanks with nothing more than panzerfausts, earth movers shoving piles of corpses into mass graves- it is all there. Director David Ayer bases the screenplay on a collection of true stories from war veterans, and hence it is extremely realistic- right down to the wanton destruction, the claustrophobic setting, the alternating of the crew between animalistic and humane, noble and brutal, and how easily the feared tank can become an easy prey to superior tactics and technology . The film is technically brilliant, the script is overwhelmingly quote-worthy, the cinematography, and action is original and sensible. The world's only working Tiger tank was used in the rollicking sequence against Fury and its cohorts. The casting, and as a result the overall acting is spot on, as is the rousing music score.
Norman: "They're coming". Wardaddy: "How many?" Norman: "They're 300 of them" Trini: "It's five against 300" Wardaddy: We ain't never run before. Why we gonna run now?"
Pitt is relatively restrained and does an excellent job as the responsible leader, keeping his wits about even in the most trying of times. It is only towards the climax, when it is 5 men and a broke tank against an entire SS battalion, that the super hero in him emerges. Spoiler alert, it is easier to survive a zombie apocalypse than WW2, even if you are Brad Pitt.
Wardaddy: "It will end, soon. But before it does, a lot more people have to die"
The best kind of war movies make you squirm in your seat and hate war. Despite being kind of predictable, and with an unrealistic climax, Fury passes this litmus test with flying colors. Gory, yet sensitive, Fury is overall, very very impressive- 8/10