So I saw FURY. And people
have been asking me what I think of it. Pretty good actually. I highly suggest you see it in a good theater
with a big screen and audio system as there are moments that just will not feel
the same on DVD. By now everyone has
probably read the story so I don’t think anyone cares about spoilers. There are some amazing scenes which are just
magnificent.
I think there are three main
elements we'd all be interested in: the story, the props and wardrobe, and the
acting..
There are no two ways around
it: the story is moronic. There some hints if you pay attention as to why the
Germans at the end are the stupidest idiots ever. But even if you pay attention and add a grain
of salt to it, its just plain stupid. And if you pay attention you'll see the
SS platoons have what looks like 3 or 4 panzerfausts each. Thus in the final battle
when the Germans open up the (accurate)
boxes of panzerfausts and say "be careful these are all we have,"
they've kind of screwed themselves.
I got the feeling that there
were things that the director wrote in the initial scrip that he was too wedded
to realize they should be cut. The advice
always given to writer is to "kill your darlings." This means if you
have something in a story you really, really love but it's not really working, you
have to be able to kill a character off, or write something out. This actually
happens to me writing military stuff. I will get something (a phrase, photo,
caption, whatever) stuck in my mind as being great. Then when I really get to
it, it doesn’t feel right, and I need to give up my great idea for the greater
good.
There are amazing moments,
but the plot really is unforgivable. And to those that say "it is
Hollywood," and "it has to have a story the public would like" I
say this: good and clever writing can turn a stupid situation into a believable
one.
Case in point. Grenades are
tossed into the tank at the end, and the guys sit and talk while the fuses
burn. Then Bucky Dent (or whatever his name is) gets out the escape hatch while
the grenades are sizzlin' while we are led to believe he has never done this
before even in practice. So, how to fix
it? Have them talk their talk, then have him get out the hatch, and just as he
wiggles out the Germans toss in the grenades. Stupidity avoided. Same basic story is told.
Want a last stand of a tank? Cut
the time from the mine going off to when the SS show up. Do not give them time
to ponder the meaning of life. Yeah, you lose the drama of the guys deciding to
die as a team rather than run away and live. So you add some drama to the next
interior scene when they realize they left their SPARE ammo on the back of the
tank (ahem) and they are all going to die.
Make the SS troops the remnants
of a training school (which I think they were supposed to be) and make them all
young kids. They shoot their initial
panzerfaust from too far a distance as the grizzled sergeant screams at them
they are too far away. Let them march in
threes on a road with the Jabos up there as the commandant is idiotic and wants
them to sing and march as in training, which same grizzled sgt keeps watching
to the enemy planes.
Saying, "it's Hollywood'
is a cop out. They spend craploads of money to get "the best there is"
so unless people demand smarter scripts they will stint on the writing. So, just ignore the plot. It's stupid. And we deserve better.
Now as to props and wardrobe
it's really good. It is a collector's wet dream of everything under the sun. Some
of the details are great, and therein lays the problem. There are so many
details and obscure references that a lot of people are going to say things
that are correct are wrong, or just not understand what is going on. Just because
you have 57 different varieties of uniforms does not mean you have to use them
all. More is not always better. It just
tries too hard, as if they were trying to cram as many things as possible into
it, and all the time winking to collectors "hey, look what cool stuff we
used." Neat, but I found it distracting.
I would debate the mixed and
bedraggled GI's (no two look alike) for April. They really look to me as if
they are from Jan-Feb or so. By April things
were different, and the ports were open and working. But yeah, everything is individually
correct, but as a whole I think it fails to create a proper picture. Deep mud
and overcoats do not a happy GI make. Extra points for mud and grease, but maybe it
was a little too much?
So top marks for having the
right stuff, but it's too much of a good thing. I guess you can be too authentic.
Acting is OK, I did not
detest Brad Pitt as much as I thought I would. Shia Lebouf was OK, but then
tears up and he's lost me. I could not look at him anymore without thinking of
Iron Eyes Cody (look it up kids). My
pick for outstanding job goes to Jon Berthnal (Shawn from Walking Dead). A lot
of people will not like his goofy southern boy, but I know exactly what he was going
for and he nailed it.
As in everything, they will
not make films with better scripts until we demand them. Keep on excusing them
for having to be "Hollywood" and they will keep doing it. Yeah, it's a good movie, but if only they had
toned it down some and written it so it made some logical sense it would have
been a great movie.
