It was pretty obvious what kind of film it was going to be from the first few scenes; Fury managed to perfectly get across the idea that
War is Hell. Far more visceral, brutal and bloody than I expected considering the rating it got in the UK (15); to the point where the first few minutes of the film left me in shock as to how gory it was. It made me question everything I thought about World War II; it seemed far far too gritty compared to the way I thought of it in my head. Piles and Piles of Bodies and Injured.
I was impressed with the main cast, even Shia who I wasn't expecting to be that good. The Crew of the Fury really felt like they had been through shit together and were basically brothers in arms. I also liked how they portrayed the integration of Newman, the rookie soldier, into the Crew and the effects it had on the Crew dynamic.
I was slightly worried that they might portray everything in Black and White (i.e. Americans = Good, Nazis = Bad) but they managed to both demonize and humanise both sides equally so by the end it was clear both sides were far more similar than they'd each like to think.
And the Ending worked brilliantly; Norman, who was once a Reluctant Soldier unable to kill, was slowly turned over the course of the film through the events he witnessed and experienced into a Numb Soulless Killer whose basic character motivation was to murder ''the fucking Nazis''. The Americans in the film had effectively been trying to drill into Norman the idea that the Nazis were not even worth considering human and by the end Norman had been convinced and showed no more moral qualms in murdering Nazis despite what they may have once been before the War; perhaps even to the point of enjoying it as was hinted. And yet his life was only spared as a result of the Mercy of a Reluctant German Soldier who was clearly meant to represent the protagonist at the beginning of the film. Someone who had yet to experience the true horrors of war and could still sympathise with the enemy and see them as other human beings. The master stroke of this is the fact that not a single American ever actually shows mercy to the Nazis and yet the one act of true Mercy in the film is by a Nazi Soldier. What this does really well is reiterate the point that Humanity exists on both sides of the War despite what either side may tell you. This isn't a conflict between the Forces of Good and Evil, but rather a battle between the Forces of Man.
The last thing I want to mention is how the film left me afterwards. I don't really know if this is a reflection of me or a reflection of the movie but this is probably the only War Movie ever to make me want to never take part in a conflict. It was a sobering experience which didn't take the issues of war lightly and honestly made me thankful I didn't live in an Era where I would have to go through something like that.
I wouldn't say there were any overall problems with the Film but a few scenes did feel a bit sub par compared to the rest of the movie however overall I would definitely watch it again and rank it as one of my favourite war films. If you like War Films then you should probably go see this.
