Fury

Writer/director David Ayer specialises in ride-around cop dramas - from Training Day (which he wrote) to End of Watch. And the same macho politics apply in this heart-pounding drama about a tank, commanded by Brad Pitt, rolling through Germany in the brutal dying days of the Second World War. Shia LaBeouf gives a studied turn as a bible-basher, Michael Peña is the loudmouth, and Jon Bernthal the cynical member of the crew. But it's through the eyes of Percy Jackson star Logan Lerman's replacement driver that the reality of conflict hits home. There are no bad guys, only men running on adrenaline and working under extreme pressure, negotiating explosions on and off the battlefield. Even the Nazis seem tragic, with only pride left to fight for. While there are familiar archetypes to be had, Ayer probes for what makes a man beneath the brutality and the bluster, resulting in a film that burns into the memory.