Horrors of war drama that falls short of the mark

Rating: 5/10 (8 December 2014)

CONTAINS SPOILERS:
Fury is a drama about a US tank team in war torn Europe. Brad Pitt leads a motley bunch who have managed to survive the carnage of war in spite of the stated inferiority of US armour in the face of German tank technology.
Without going into too much detail what appears to be the focus of the drama, that is, showing the horrors of war, is lost due to the unlikable cast of characters and a rather absurd end scene.
The tank team, with the exception of Pitt's character and that of a young recruit can, in my estimation, best be described as repellent. They are cruel, crude and a generally unsavory bunch.
I suspect the reason for depicting the key characters in this manner was to show how war hardens people.Yet the reality is they could have been, I feel, better presented as human beings surrounded by the horrors of war.
The lack of likability of the majority of the tank team makes it difficult to empathize with the characters when they do inevitably meet their end. For me this deadens the message the film is trying to convey about the horrors of war.
The ending does the film no favours either. Pitts character stands Rambo-esque atop his immobile tank cutting down hordes of, seemingly suicidal, German soldiers. Its a "hero moment" not I felt a reality of war scene. Indeed even when a German sniper finally shoots Pitt's character at relatively close range he turns out to be an implausibly poor shot.
Its these rather glaring shortcomings and others that really rob this film of its impact which is a shame as it could have had a lot to offer with a good cast and very good locations.