Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Genre

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Director

Nicholas Meyer

Country

USA

Cast

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Kirstie Alley, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Bibi Besch, Merritt Butrick, Paul Winfield, Ricardo Montalbán, Ike Eisenmann, Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Storyline

In the 23rd century, while the Enterprise is on routine training maneuvers, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) seems resigned to the fact that this may be the last space mission of his career, But Khan Noonien (Ricardo Montalbán), an infamous conqueror from late 20th century Earth, is back, and with the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Kirk must stop him from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.

Opinion

If "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" left you empty, prepare to live long and prosper with "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", an excellent and thrilling sci-fi film featuring a strong plot, great acting and incredible special effects.

Like its predecessor inspired by an episode of the original Star Trek (thank you Wikipedia!), the first thing you notice about this film is the plot: there's actually one, a pretty strong one. Despite some minor plot holes, both plot and subplots are compelling, and very entertaining, and the use of revenge as a plot point is brilliant.

The script also contains great character development and insights into their behavior: the introduction of Khan is effectively done, and the origin of the conflict between Khan and Kirk is quickly yet very well explained, so that the excellent pace doesn't suffer from it, and everyone, especially those unfamiliar with the Star Trek universe, can fully understand what's going on and why it's going on.

That, however, does not nullify the film's flaw(s). There is one non-sense scene about Scotty being proud of Peter Preston when introducing him to Kirk during the inspection. It does have no use, other than making you feel sympathy for him later in the film on his deadbed, another pointless scene to be honest. But, again, I'm not a Trekkie, so there might be something I'm missing, like some kind of relationship between Scotty and Preston.

Speaking of scenes, there's one really emotional and moving at the end of the film that had me in tears, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

Along with everything else - I almost forgot to mention the impressive special effects, especially Genesis, the beautiful score and the redesigned uniforms that doesn't look like pyjamas anymore -, the acting has also improved: while some members of the cast still are mediocre, Ricardo Montalbán gives a great performance as Khan, and I will remember forever his portrayal of one of the greatest villains I've seen so far. 

And the best hasn't come yet: you don't need to see the first Star Trek to see and fully enjoy this one. 

Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human. - Kirk