It’s a mixed bag for Brad Pitt’s latest production, Fury, after the tense war movie went on the chopping block of reviewers. The WWII historical drama currently holds a 76% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and many reviewers have been quick to praise its depth and raw depiction of wartime horrors. At the same time, it’s exactly the type of movie you’d expect to see from Pitt and director David Ayer. As The LA Times’ Kenneth Turan puts it, “the five-person cross-section-of-humanity tank crew headed by Pitt's Sgt. Don Collier, a.k.a. Wardaddy, fits squarely into familiar Hollywood models involving men doing what men have to do because no one's going to do it but them.”

Brad Pitt
Fury offers a disturbing new take on an old and familiar theme.

Meanwhile, this concern with codes of masculine behavior fits squarely into the preoccupations of filmmaker Ayer, who wrote and directed the LAPD drama End of Watch. The Wall Street Journal’s John Anderson pegs Brad Pitt’s Wardaddy as “violently out-of-type” for the actor.

More: Brad Pitt's Oscar-Tipped Fury To Close Out London Film Festival 2014

This might be one of the early Oscar contenders of the year, but a gentle ride it definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. Beyond its psychological horrors, Fury doesn’t shy away from the physical gore. “Fury makes a very good argument that war is not just hell, but the great equalizer: Enough unspeakable carnage and a soldier can become a vengeful sexual psychopath, regardless of race, religion or ethnic origin.”

Watch the trailer for Fury below.