Review XXI - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Review XXI
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

I'm not a trekkie, and I've only watched a few episodes from the original Star Trek series and two films. It's funny to watch (and George Takei and William Shatner are so young!), and the techno babble is just crazy (quantum - that's their reasoning for everything, haha), but hey, it's fun to watch on a rainy day. Even if you aren't familiar with Star Trek, you'll probably recognize the infamous Khan scream. Remember in my Reservoir Dogs review when I mentioned it was playing at a theatre about an hour away? The theatre has a "Most Wanted Mondays" where they play an old film that we, the people, vote to play on a Monday. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan played yesterday, and since my boyfriend is a pretty big Star Trek fan, and I had seen the film before, we decided to go see it. We sat down in a decently full theatre and watched Nicholas Meyer's masterpiece (I couldn't think of another word to use).

The film takes place in the 23rd century, and Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is feeling old. When he's given the opportunity to tag along for a three week long training session aboard the Enterprise, he accepts, with Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy), communications officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), chief engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), and helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) by his side. However, when an old enemy, Khan (Ricardo Montalbán) returns in order to get revenge on Kirk using an instrument that could be birth, or death, of a planet, Kirk is finally forced to face death head on.

If you've ever seen Star Trek before, you know it's cheesy. While we watched the film, whenever William Shatner delivered a line that sounded so overdone, everyone in the theatre erupted in laughter. We also shared a sorrowful moment at the end, and it was one of the most interesting and best experiences I've ever had in a theatre. Anyway, back to the film... It's nothing spectacular, but it was a huge hit. It also has an interesting idea behind it - a device that is genesis - it can take a planet in the Goldilocks Zone that lacks atmosphere and water to sustain life and create a habitable planet. However, if the planet contains any type of life, that life will be destroyed in order to create a new environment. I don't know, I always thought the idea was really cool. Then Khan's need for revenge as he blames Kirk for the death of his wife - well, it's typical, but it's good. Khan isn't just an asshole for the sake of being an asshole; instead, he's a man who is overcome with vengeance because he loved his wife so much, and he will stop at nothing to destroy Kirk. It's not the most complicated plot, but it's well done. I also don't want to reveal the ending, but jeez, am I proud that they actually did it. Most directors don't have the guts to do what they did. And no, they were not expecting a followup the way the third film ended up being, so I'm still amazed by their decision.

The acting can be pretty hammy (Shatner... pauses... for... effect.), as I mentioned, but it's Star Trek style so I had no problem with it. Not all the acting is bad, but don't go in expecting award-winning acting. They also never explain by Saavik (Kirstie Alley), a trainee, acts out emotionally, even though she's supposed to be a Vulcan (Spock's race, who, logically, do not believe in acting out emotionally). Apparently she's part Vulcan and part Romulan, so she has trouble controlling her emotions. This is something that is important to explaining her character, but, for whatever reason, they kept it out.

I'd give the film a seven point eight on ten. Maybe I'm being a bit generous, but it is kind of nostalgic, and the experience at the theatre watching it the second time was spectacular, so I really enjoyed it. I also liked seeing Merritt Butrick in the film, who plays the son of Kirk and Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), even if I only know him from one show, heh... Anyway, it's worth a watch, even if you haven't ever seen any Star Trek episodes. Still, I don't think it's a film you would necessarily appreciate without having any knowledge of the series beforehand because it would just seem like a typical, cheesy science fiction film. I can't say that for sure though. Live long and prosper!