It's very easy to be able to watch a shit movie and open up my blog template and let all of my hate-filled emotions drive me to write one hell of a scathing review. What's difficult, sometimes, is writing about how great a movie is. It's difficult in some aspects because if it is so great a movie, most of the time it was expected to be a great movie and all of the reasons you wanted to watch it... is what makes it great. So, persuading you by telling you that Brad Pitt is a fantastic actor and that watching him in this movies feels like what all actors should aspire to be like... is kind of pointless... as well as cliche. It's easier, of course, to explain why a movie was great when everyone thought it would be awful. Like Hercules or John Wick. But, did anyone think that Fury was going to be a shit movie? Did anyone think that Brad Pitt would phone in his role? Is there anyone who is on the fence about his movie that would be persuaded to go see it just because I say that it's good? I'm guessing not.
But Fury is a great film. For many reasons. The most important is yes, the acting. These five men have more faults than redeeming qualities, yet you fall in love with them. They're able to convey their characters through their emotions, through their actions, through their expressions without ever having to state them blatantly. This is what makes good movies: good characters. I feel as though I hammer this point rather frequently, but it happens so infrequently in movies that, perhaps, I emphasize it when I see it because it still surprises me. Fury is the tale of the five men who man the tank, aptly named Fury, rolling through Germany in the heart of World War II. They end up having a five vs. three-hundered man fight towards the end. It's that simple. There's no grandiose message of politics or war. Yes, we gather that war is the utmost Hell a man can get into... but it's just a simple story of a few heroes in World War II who wound up facing a tough fight and not giving up. For that, I applaud them.
However, as heroic as it sounds... and is... the movie is grim. It is dark. It is an unromanticized depiction of war. There is nothing to lighten the mood. There are hardly any happy conversations had throughout the movie. These guys are seeing and doing the most heinous acts a human being can do and it's very waring. I, as a privileged white male who has never even really seen an animal killed, can only imagine the horrors of seeing a person killed/killing said person can do to a man. And, as a privileged white male who has never been in combat before, I cannot directly account for this statement, but I've heard it true elsewhere: that this depiction of war is one of the most accurate depictions ever filmed. And I believe it. It's awful. Bullets fly like rain drops. They sweep over you when you least expect it. There's no time for grieving. There's no energy for humor. You're always on guard. You're always looking for someone to kill you. And, in the end... there's no mercy.
While it's not the most fun movie to watch and laugh at and genuinely have a good time at... it is amazing to witness. Sure, you'll feel like shit walking out of it, but in a good way. Not in a... you just watched Annabelle way. The performances are outstanding, Pitt and LaBeouf especially. And it's great to see David Ayer (who also wrote Fast and the Furious) able to mature into a great writer/director. This is one of the best war movies in a decade. It's gorgeous to watch, just a little difficult to stomach. See it in theaters.
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