Fury

It's not a bad film, but only two scenes really caught my attention, one of which was at the dining table (the other was the disposal of the tiger). It seemed to me as if David Ayer wanted to combine The Big Red One and The Thin Red Line, but he just couldn't reach that bar with the help of clichés and uninteresting characters. Yet Brad Pitt was 100% suited to the role and it was obvious that he played the tank commander with gusto, and the dirty, muddy atmosphere had a lot going for it as well. But why was it all so long, even though so little happened in it? (30/01/2016)

If the purpose of the film was to put the slick Pitt in an even more iconic light than Wolfgang Petersen did in his conquest of Troy, then the task is accomplished. But if Fury was supposed to have any intellectual or historical value beyond the insultingly unoriginal "War is an abomination" and "Let's not lump the Germans together", Ayer failed miserably. While the ageless star and everything around him looks very cool and the viewer won't get bored, I can't think of a better example of a war movie that so perfectly presents the utterly ridiculous American view of the nature of direct combat and the all-encompassing wartime contributions of their intrepid ancestors. It’s OK in the cinema with popcorn, but in 10 years nobody will rewatch the best scenes on blu-ray. 65% (26/02/2015)

Fury is an action-packed blockbuster about an American tank crew slaying SS men in Germany in the Second World War. Brad Pitt is the only one of the crew who washes himself in a private moment, shows off the muscles acquired at LA Fitness and, even after a year of masturbating in an iron cockpit, does not f*ck the German girl (who wouldn’t be against it) because that would be unethical. The point of the film: Not all SS men were bad. The third Expendables should have taken place here, with a less straight face. (06/11/2014)

Attempting to make a Tank Patrol into a living monument to the soldiers of World War II is a lot to promise, but it falls apart when David Ayer's genres start clashing with each other. I would believe both in the invincible crew of the Fury and in tears during drunken confessions, but once these moods meet and regularly alternate, it's over. And it's a shame because Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman can effortlessly develop any smallest supporting storyline to the edge. (13/11/2014)

Ayer is equally suggestive and raw in WWII as in his modern police escapades, only this time he doesn’t rely on CGI but goes nicely the old-fashioned way. This is a clearly outlined film, striking, and not pretending to be anything more than it is. It’s a solid psychological barrage with performances. There are plenty of emotions and the atmosphere and visuals are superb. Some of the dialogue passages marginally resemble Tarantino's standards, and the rest is nothing more than honest filmmaking with plenty of dirt, rotten teeth, and blown-off limbs. It's a shame about the overly grand finale, which is mandatory, but doesn't fit at all considering the film's concept. (09/02/2015)