About People –
Not Tanks
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
While I’m not a big fan of war movies – or war itself, for that matter –it is a subject that has, does, and will affect so many people’s lives. As William Tecumseh Sherman said, “War is hell.” But sometimes a war movie can be good entertainment.
“Fury” – the new Brad Pitt film that’s playing at the Tropic Cinema – takes its name from a M4A3EB Sherman tank commanded by a hotshot sergeant and his 5-man crew.
In this World War II actioner, Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Pitt with a jarhead haircut) is a man who fought Nazis in Africa and is now pursuing then behind Germany lines, lumbering along in his old workhorse tank. When it gets disabled, and 300 German soldiers are approaching, including a bunch of heavier German tanks, Wardaddy decides to stand his ground.
There’s the expected dramatic interplay between Wardaddy and his crew, particular a younger recruit (Logan Lerman) who’s questioning his courage, but it’s the battles you came to see. Bomb blasts and the boom of that 75mm turret-mounted gun atop the Fury -- you’ll find it all in this war film written and directed by David Ayer (“End of Watch”).
Also in the cast are Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, and Scott Eastwood (Clint’s son).
There’s a message here about courage under fire, but this unsentimental telling will entertain you with the sheer intensity of its battle scenes.
Somehow it seems fitting that William Tecumseh Sherman had a tank named after him.
srhoades@aol.com
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