'Fury' Review
10 (5) Things You Should Know About the Muddy Brad Pitt Action Movie
War is hell. This much we know is true.
It's also the fodder for prestige action movies like "Fury," about a small team of men who pilot and maneuver the titular tank in the waning days of World War II, where Hitler's Germany acted like a scared and wounded dog -- all teeth and matted fur and ferocious intent. Brad Pitt leads the platoon, which is stocked handily with fine actors like Jon Bernthal, Logan Lerman, Shia LeBeouf (who lost a tooth and cut his face for the role) and Michael Pena.
Instead of a world-saving mission, these good ole boys are more interested in just surviving until the war officially concludes (a task that seems doable until, well, things go to hell). But does this rise out of the flames of war, triumphant? Or burn before it reaches the finish line? Read on to find out!
1. This Is Not 'Inglourious Basterds 2' (Unfortunately)
The last time Brad Pitt was in the Nazi-killing mood, he joined up with the "Inglourious Basterds" for Quentin Tarantino. That film, which might be the filmmaker's very best, was fun and unexpected and formally ambitious. This is not that movie. Not by a long shot. It's much more structured and traditional and "gritty." If you're expecting another gay wartime romp like "Inglourious Basterds," think again. You should probably just watch "Inglourious Basterds." That movie is a masterpiece.
2. It's Incredibly Violent
What is kind of shocking, if we're continuing on this lazy "Inglourious Basterds" comparison tract, which I am more than happy to do, is that "Fury" is more violent than "Inglourious Basterds." While 'Basterds' had those gruesome scalpings and a couple of splashy executions, "Fury" is almost wall-to-wall gore, an unending cascade of red. In fact, the opening moments of the movie involve Brad Pitt launching out of the titular tank and stabbing a German in the face. While this is a pretty abrasive way to start a movie, it certainly sets the tone that the rest of the movie follows.
3. The Supporting Cast Is Uniformly Terrific...
Listen, everybody in "Fury" (the movie and the tank) is terrific. These are actors doing some capital-A acting, with the cast going through a rigorous boot camp experience that seems to have systematically broken them down and built them back up. (There's also the incident when some of the guys beat up Scott Eastwood because he spit on their tank.) They are caked in mud and scared with the wounds of war (some of them quite literally -- Shia cut himself). But alas...
4. ...Although They Don't Have Much to Do
...These are characters who you'd probably see on any black-and-white war movie that they play late at night on TCM (except with more cursing and without the genial introduction). There's the guy with the mysterious past, the guy who reads the Bible a lot, the Mexican guy, the new guy, and the borderline psychopath guy (that's Bernthal, bumming everyone out after playing such an effervescent character in "Wolf of Wall Street"). These are stock characters, through and through, more two-dimensional than any animated sprite.
5. Clichés Riddle the Tank as Much as Bullets
And the characters' lack of depth speaks to the overall banality of "Fury." It's full of raging war movie clichés, and while the filmmakers clearly try to give it a gritty, harsher feel (hence all of that bloody violence), it feels just as phony as any of the classic war pictures. It's insanely been-there, fought-that, and, just to roll out the "Inglourious Basterds" analogy one last time, lacking in that film's unpredictability and willingness to deconstruct the war movie genre with gleeful abandon. "Fury" sticks to its guns. And it's a drag.
+Michael Pena Interview because he is perfect
Click to viewDavid Ayer’s Fury is one of the Fall’s most anticipated films, and for good reason. It features a terrific cast and tells the exciting story of a World War II tank crew that ventures into Germany to take out what is left of the Nazis. Among the actors in the cast is Michael Pena, who plays Trini Garcia, the tank’s driver and one of the 350,000 Mexican Americans who served during World War II.
Pena has proven to be one of the most versatile actors working today, having played a wide variety of roles in movies like the Oscar winning Crash, Observe and Report, American Hustle and World Trade Center. So, it was a real honor talking with him when he arrived at the Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, California, to discuss Fury during the film’s press day.
Over the course of our interview, we spoke about the boot camp that he and the other actors went through before filming, how his working relationship with Ayer has evolved since they worked together on End Of Watch, and what we should expect from Ant-Man.
Check out our exclusive interview in the video above and be sure to catch Fury when it rolls into theatres this Friday.
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don't care. still want to see it with my dad and most likely cry because sadness
even if I did get the Inglourious Basterds feel but I blame watching the movie and realizing Fury's release date on the same day
