Review: War film leaves impact

“Fury” starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal is an inspiring war film anyone would enjoy. First and foremost, I’m not a person to go out of my way to see a war film. Honestly the last memorable one I saw was probably “Inglorious Basterds” in 2009. With that in mind, for anyone who is a hardcore fan of war films: take what I say with a grain of salt. I’m not saying I hated all of “Fury;” there were definitely some redeeming qualities.

The film follows a five-man Sherman tank team led by Don Collier (Pitt). The unit has a new member thrown upon them, Norman Ellison (Lerman), after one of their men dies in battle. Having only joined the army as a typewriter, Ellison is thrown into the war as a gunner in the front of the tank. The film follows Ellison and his new unit as they travel deeper into the German countryside in an effort to end the war. Their primary objective is to lead a unit of four tanks from town to town to help push the front.

While Pitt gives an honorable performance, I think the one man that steals the film is Bernthal. He gives an amazing performance of the man you love to hate in a film. His picking on Ellison has you sitting there wanting to knock the guy out for being such a punk. Lerman, probably best known for his work as Percy Jackson and in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” brings a gripping performance to the film. You feel for him and what he has to encounter, from killing his first Nazi to understanding why they need to be killed in the first place. The tank battles were another great feature of the film. The way director David Leitch framed and angled his shots leaves a wonderful level of excitement.

There were only a few things I didn’t like about this film. The pacing lagged a bit from time to time and the way the bullets and missiles were filmed or created was a little strange. Sometimes, during the fighting sequences, I felt like I was on Tatooine in a Star Wars film during a laser fight.

Despite these downfalls, the film overall is very compelling and I would give it a solid B+.

— Jay Wolin majors in communications and started writing film reviews for Utah Statesman this semester. He loves football, movies and comic books. Send questions or comments to jacob_wolin@yahoo.com.