World War II is a widely overused staple of the war genre in film. 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. The one exception to this rule is the tank division.

Staff Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier, played by Pitt, commands a Sherman tank named “Fury;” its five-man crew has been together since the North African Campaign. There 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 that 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 guys and bad guys. The war is not questioned like other wars. 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.

There are no heroes in this movie. We see 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 in Fury’s crew cope 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 stronger than Pitt and his character 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 and as a leader, all while dealing with his own struggles.

This film is relentless from beginning to end. It opens with death and death never stops. It is always quick but brutal. It becomes the status quo, 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 may not contend for any awards this year, nor join the pantheon of classic war movies. However, it will entertain, compel and captivate, which is all that matters.

Stars: 4 out 5

Jacob Pierce can be reached at [email protected] , on Twitter @JacobPierce1_DE or at 536-3311 ext.273