World War II is a widely overused staple of the war film genre. Hollywood has had its struggles finding new angles to show an important part of human history.

“Fury” (Rated R; 134 min) finds a unique way to tell the story of the second World War.

“Fury” is directed and written by David Ayer and stars Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman and Michael Pena.

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The year is 1945 and the Allied forces are well on their way to winning World War II. They out-class the Axis forces in nearly every way possible. The one exception is the tank division.

Staff Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier, played by Pitt, commands a Sherman tank named “Fury”, its five-man crew have been together since the North African Campaign. They are now in the end of the European theater, when their assistant driver is killed. They are given a replacement named Norman Ellison (Lerman). Ellison is a typist only eight weeks into his tour and has never seen the inside of a tank. He soon learns ideals are peaceful and history is violent.

One reason World War II is portrayed so often is how easy it is to use. It is a war with clearly defined lines between good and bad. The war is not questioned like others. It is easy to glorify the actions of characters by having them fight Nazis.

This is changing. Since “Saving Private Ryan” was released in 1998, movies have taken a different direction. Film stopped romanticizing the war and started showing the horrors of it. Yet, even without this glorification, most of the movies still have heroes.

There are no heroes in this movie. It is a world full of characters with conflicting emotions, the job of killing people weighing heavily on their conscious. This is a strong point to Ayers writing in general.

All the men who make up the crew of “Fury” cope with their job in different ways. But this crew seems like a family, even with a new addition. They do not always get along, but they have each other’s backs.

There is no character stronger than Pitt as Don Collier in this film. He could have easily settled back into his role of Lt. Aldo Raine in “Inglorious Basterds”, his accent even bringing back memories of Raine’s southern tones. However, Collier is not the Hollywood hero that Raine is.

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Collier is the authoritative father figure of the crew. He cares about his men and helps them through their episodic missions emotionally while having dealing with his own struggles.

This film is relentless from beginning to end. It opens up on death and it never stops. It is always quick but brutal. It becomes the status quo, much like real soldier experiences. It happens, and you do your best to move on. The characters you are close to go quickly, and there is no time to mourn.

“Fury” is not a masterpiece. It will not contend for any awards this year, nor will it join the pantheon of classic war movies. However, it will entertain, compel and captivate, which is all that matters.