Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan directed by Nicholas Meyer Movie Review

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)   4/54/54/54/54/5


William Shatner and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Kirk Khan Win

It's been 15 years since Kirk (William Shatner) abandoned the evil genius Khan (Ricardo Montalban) to a far off planet and in those years Khan has become bitter and hell bent on revenge. The opportunity presents itself when the USS Reliant comes across his planet looking for a suitable lifeless planet as a test site for the Genesis project, a project designed by Kirk's son and an ex-lover. When Khan takes control of the Reliant and the project it forces Kirk, already on the USS Enterprise to oversee training, to deal with Khan once again.

If I was to be really truthful "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" disappointed me as it was too reverent and slow for those who were not die hard Trekkies. But fortunately when a few years later they returned with the second "Star Trek" movie "The Wrath of Khan" they went back to basics and delivered what people wanted even those who were not devoted Star Trek Fans.

Kirstie Alley and Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

So what do I mean by that? Well they cleverly gave us a storyline which drew on the history of Star Trek by bringing in the character of Khan, a character who Kirk dealt with during an episode of the series. But whilst fans will love all the references the writers have also made it easy for non Trekkies to follow and be entertained by. But more importantly is here we have a storyline which has that sense of action and adventure. which skips along at a pace and never once feels laboured which was certainly the case of that first movie which in comparison seems even worse than it first seemed.

But what we also have in "The Wrath of Khan" are the combination of characters and banter. That stuffy reverence of the first movie is gone and we have that chemistry between the original cast which is so much fun. The playful bickering between Kirk, Spock and Bones is simply a joy to watch as is the fact that Shatner seems in a playful mood and having fun with his role in a tongue in cheek manner. On the subject of having fun there is Ricardo Montalban who delivers such an over the top performance as the evil Khan it is impossible not to find him amusing or be impressed by the good shape which he was in.

What this all boils down to is that after what seems an even bigger mistake of a first movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" comes good with a movie which works not only for fans of the series but also those who just want to be entertained. And that for me is what is the most important because as not a Star Trek fan this movie still kept me entertained from start to finish and made me want to watch another Star Trek movie.


LATEST REVIEWS