Rogue One Memorial Day review:

You can't talk about Star Wars, especially Rogue One, on Memorial Day without drawing the parallels between it and actual WWII history. In fact, In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in November 2016, Giacchino (the musical composer for the movie) stated: "It is a film that is in many ways a really great World War II movie, and I loved that about it. But it also has this huge, huge heart at the center of it, and that was the one thing I just didn't want to discount. Yes, it's an action movie, and it's a Star Wars film, and it has all the things that you would come to expect and love about that, but I didn't want to forget that it was also an incredibly emotional movie as well. That was what really pulled me in."[104]

Now, Memorial Day is the day we remember our fallen heroes. The war began for America when Pearl Harbor was attacked. I think in a real sense the main characters in this movie began to form a strongly knit unit at Jedha, their "Pearl Harbor". This is where they picked up the Guardians of the Whills--Chirrut and Baze. This is where they pick up Bohdi the defected Imperial pilot struggling to follow his conscience. This is also where Jyn's guardian ad litem says his final goodbyes to Jyn, closing a bitter chapter in a bitter life, filled with long periods of abandonment and imprisonment.

She was not trusting anyone, not rebels, not the empire, and perhaps not even "The Force", with her faith I'm sure having been greatly shaken at the destruction of Jedha. Then came Act II: Eadu. Cassian had already proven himself a ruthless man earlier in the movie. He assassinated one of his own in order to protect information vital to the Rebels. This is a man that since his early childhood had sacrificed everything, including much of his humanity, in order to further the rebellion.

There is a WWII movie (I wish I could remember the name of it) where a team of Allied special forces picked up a group of natives who were all orphans to help them with a mission. One of those kids was this Spanish kid in his teens. Whoever played that role did an excellent job in conveying the bitterness of a war orphan. It was "Dirty Dozen" times ten! Cassian reminded me of that kid, after perhaps another decade of war.

Cassian, however, is also pricked in his conscience, knowing he was sent to kill Jyn's father, the troubled, "Robert Oppenheimer" of the Star Wars universe. Imagine you knew the Nazi's had the nuclear bomb. That is the Death Star. You are ordered to kill the chief engineer. His daughter is in tow, and tries to rescue her father, whom she knows is a man pure of heart. And you, Cassian, know that she is right.

The pent up fury of Jyn and Cassian which before simmered under the surface now bubbles up at the end of this act. The tragic death of Galen forces an argument, a divide between them, with Cassian's only ally being K-2SO, and that only because of his programming. Jyn insists on telling the Rebel Alliance of the plans to defeat the Death Star, the message, if not the specifics, entrusted to Bhodi.

They arrive back at Yavin in Act III. Jyn is now passionate to avenge her father, and follow out his wishes to infiltrate Scarif, find the plans to the Death Star's weakness, and destroy it. She is again greatly disillusioned when she sees their fear, disillusionment and divisions. "They were never going to believe you." This is where the group coalesces, galvanizing into a force of unstoppable resolve.

All of their consciences are working in harmony: Chirrut and Baze want to avenge, if nothing else, the memory of Jedha, and prove themselves true Guardians of the Whills. Cassian and Bhodi want, in their own ways, to be true to their conscience, Cassian wanting to do his conscience for once, not merely the will of of the Rebellion, and Bhodi wanting merely to prove to himself to his own conscience, that it is good, that he is good (kind of like the Private Ryan at the end of that movie). Even K-2SO has a kind of conscience, a struggle. We see this film in lots of sci-fi movies--the android or cyborg desiring or striving to be noble or humane--a desire to be considered as human.

Well, this of course is how "Rogue One" the group is born, as they head to Scarif with a very small force, quickly assembled in a "twice stolen" Imperial cargo ship piloted by Bhodi. It is also how the Rebellion was reborn, as a group of noble Rebels is forced to take a look at their own hypocrisy, and find themselves again.

What results is Act IV: The all-out assault on the beaches and skies of Scarif, with Rogue One serving as the advanced landing party. It was a very messy beach invasion with many sacrifices, and with many unconventional tactics being used (sound familar Normandy?)

My two favorite tactics are first, Chirrut's "using the Force" to get past enemy fire in order to establish contact with the Rebel fleet and second, the Mon Calamari General's amazingly creative tactic to use a Hammerhead Corvette like a Greek Trireme to push a disabled Star Destoryer into another Star Destroyer which would of course destroy the shield generator protecting Scarif. The musical score at that instant was spot on, switching to a gentle chorus of violins amidst the massive explosion, as the tide of war turned to the Rebel's favor. It's the same kind of music you might hear as, for example, a child is being born, a new hope entering the world.

I think at this point, the 40th year since Star Wars was introduced, we must recognise it as a phenomenon of our collective conscience. It is more than just another series of movies--it has too much meaning infused in it to be that anymore, and those who try to merely make it that again are missing something important. The kids fun movie has evolved into a story of conscience and of family. It is a reflection of Western society, a refection of our hopes and fears and our struggle to live by faith. Hope, faith and love are strong themes in Star Wars, and it is art too, great art.

Star Wars is to this generation what Shakespeare was to the Renaissance. With it's beautiful and distinct visual style, elegant musical scores, and themes of faith, inner conflict, and all out war, there is something for everyone. As kids we all loved the action, a literal laser light show with swords and guns and spaceships. As adults, at least for my part, a deeper chord was struck (and I even felt it as a kid) that the inner struggles of these characters were something to savor.

This movie felt much more like Star Wars cannon than did another, recent Star Wars movie whose title I will not mention. I say that because the story, the heart of the matter, was there. We weren't seeing famous people in token roles, or villains that felt contrived, or heroes instantly and inexplicably proficient with "the Force". We went in to the movie, at least I did, with the gut feeling that many if not all of the heroes in this movie weren't going to make it out alive. It was a story filled with true martyrs, ordinary people with character flaws, often tired and drained (few in number), yet determined to sacrifice all they had for the idea of freedom. That's the story of Western Civilization.

It wasn't the "cocky kid" swashbuckler style Ep. IV (though it honored that wonderful movie in every way). It wasn't the "Karate Kid" movie with teacher/student Obi-Wan/Anakin, Yoda/Luke story (though a rough nod was given to that with Chirrut & Baze). It wasn't a movie that emphasized exotic locations, or all-out light saber battles that we saw in all the previous movies--it's not the amount of light-sabre you have in a movie, it's how and where it's introduced that matters. It had the feel of a WWII movie set in a distant galaxy long ago and far away, where faith was waning, technology and war were rising, and hope seemed millions of light years out of reach. Hoping against hope. That's Star Wars. That's Rogue One.