Review: 'Fury'

Coming off his LAPD drive-around chronicle "End of Watch," Ayer once again gravitates toward hard men in deadly, roving circumstances. "Fury" compresses a dozen World War II movies' worth of tension, conflict and carnage in a single 24-hour narrative, set in April 1945. The story grinds into motion when a youthful, scared desk jockey (Logan Lerman) joins Wardaddy's crew, and the men wonder if the new kid spells doom for everyone sharing tight quarters inside the tank.

The film's lyric interlude, set in a German town recently taken by the Allies, sets up virginal Norman (with the help of his avenging-angel mentor, Wardaddy) with a local girl (Alicia von Rittberg). Wardaddy relaxes, demurely, in the company of the young woman's more worldly cousin, played by the superb Romanian actress Anamaria Marinca. The problem with this scene, which is pretty interesting, is that it feels like a war movie, as opposed to war.

Why couldn't Ayer follow up on that early, panicky glimpse of Wardaddy with any other hint in "Fury" of his protagonist's demons? A handful of revisions, tweaks and adjustments, along with a musical score less bombastically grandiose, might've made this a film to remember.

There is at least one great film set inside a tank among ordinary soldiers. It's from Israel: "Lebanon" (2009), dealing with the 1982 Lebanon war. There the claustrophobia feeds the human drama every second. In that picture, there's a quotation taped to the tank wall: "Man is steel. The tank is only iron." Ayer believes likewise, though, at its weakest, "Fury" contributes a frustrating percentage of tin to go with the iron and steel.

"Fury" - 2 1/2 stars

MPAA rating: R (for strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images, and language throughout)

Running time: 2:13.

Opens: Friday

mjphillips@tribune.com