Fury

Cert: 15 Runtime: 134 mins Director: David Ayer Cast: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LeBeouf, Jon Bernthal, Micahel Pena and Jason Issacs

Ideals are peaceful. History is violent.

David Ayer caught my attention with End Of Watch a while back, he seems like a talented film-maker. Fury caught the corner of my eye a few months back, the trailer didn’t truly catch my attention. But I am partial to a War movie and a decent Brad Pitt performance. So what is Fury about? April 1945. Hardened tank commander Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier (Brad Pitt) has seen action all the way from Africa to Germany. He has always sworn to protect the crew of Fury, his Sherman tank – Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Trini Garcia (Michael Pena) and Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal). Their latest mission is a vital but positively suicidal one, striking at the heart of Nazi Germany behind enemy lines. As if being out gunned and heavily outnumbered wasn’t bad enough, Wardaddy has also been assigned wet-behind-the-ears assistant driver Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman).First off the acting of the main crew of actors: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, and Jon Bernthal is simply outstanding. Brad Pitt is an incredible actor, and makes a memorable performance, along with Shia LaBeouf and Jon Bernthal in particular. For example, they act their roles as a rough battle hardened crew, and are shocking in their brute customs at first. They can be very dis-likeable, as they mock, abuse, and disrespect both Logan Lerman and their German enemies.Yet despite this, as the movie progresses, and their characters are portrayed more deeply, their humanity shows through and the audience can begin to love this tough crew as they face desperate odds together – I believe this is a testament to their great acting abilities.

The special effects in this movie are also some of the best I have yet seen in a WWII film. The violence that tank crews subject their enemies too, and they themselves are subjected too is shown quite clearly as massive shells tear both men and machine apart.The art direction in this film is also brilliantly done. The music is moving at times when, the greyness of a war torn Germany screams at you throughout the film, etc. One thing I noticed, which I find the film also did well, is that it seems to heavily emphasize is the machinery used in the conflict. For example, boiling oil spilling inside a tank, smoking guns, the tightness of a tank compartment where a man is surrounded by hard iron… All of this seems to emphasize how man is truly the softest and most fragile thing around. It also adds an effect to the movie, making it truly feel like a tank movie – where rough men struggle inside an ‘armoured coffin’.The brutality of war is also portrayed well I found. For example, the corpses of men being pushed by vehicles into graves, the harshness men subject their fellow man too, etc.Overall I found that the film was well made, it is definitely worth watching in theaters where bombs and explosions can surprise and jolt you in your seat.The movie is not simply a ‘kill Nazi’ film without zero intelligence. The film is relatively fair, and is worth watching for the art, the intense battles, and the acting. However, it is definitely not a movie for children, and should be watched free of preconceived ideas that the ‘Germans were bad’ or the ‘Americans were bad’, watch it for what it is – a movie.

8.4/10

Films for October

Gone Girl

On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick’s portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behaviour have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife? Directed by David Fincher, out October 2nd

Fury

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany. Out October 22nd

Horns

In the aftermath of his girlfriend’s mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples. Starring Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple, out October 29th

Mr. Turner

Mr. Turner explores the last quarter century of the great if eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies. Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty. Out October 31st

Nightcrawler 

Unemployed and broke, Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is thwarted at every turn as he searches for work. Then he happens upon a car crash, where an intrusive, hard-nosed cameraman is delighted to be first on the scene. This is Lou’s introduction to the seedy lifestyle of ‘nightcrawlers’ – roving freelance camera crews whose motto is, “If it bleeds, it leads.” He’s soon out on the streets, desperate to beat his rivals to crime scenes, pile-ups and major fires. His recklessness and dedication impress tough-minded TV executive Nina (Rene Russo). But the temptation to go one step further in pursuit of a scoop lands him in deep water. Out October 31st.