Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Nicholas Meyer

Starring:  William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban, Kirstie Alley, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Paul Winfield, George Takei, Bibi Besch, Merritt Butrick

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan begins the trend of superior Star Trek entertainments.  I'm not a Trekkie by any stretch, but I know when a movie is clicking, and The Wrath of Khan gives us what we hope for when watching Star Trek; a sense of wonder mixed with good old-fashioned space dueling.  

Before the movie even introduces a weapon called Genesis, which can create life on a dead planet in a matter of hours, Star Trek II brings us Khan (Montalban), a vengeful megalomaniac whom Kirk exiled to a distant planet years ago and has been waiting for the opportunity to seek vengeance.  Khan gets hold of starship and tracks Kirk and the Enterprise while hoping to get a hold of Genesis.  Montalban plays a chilling villain, whose desire for revenge is seared into his body language and his very being.  Kirk, meanwhile, wants to protect Genesis (developed by his former lover Dr. Carol Marcus (Besch) and son David (Butrick), who is unaware that Kirk is his father) while trying to rid the universe of Khan.  Shatner's Kirk is steady and ready for anything, while the biggest changes occur in Spock (Nimoy).  

Spock is famous for telling anyone that he isn't human and not prone to human emotions, but he is loyal, brave, and sacrifices himself at a critical juncture of the movie when it looks like Enterprise has no chance of escaping destruction.  As Kirk puts it, "Of all of the souls I've encountered, his (Spock's) is the most...human,"  This adds a different dimension to Spock we haven't seen before, and presents us with a Vulcan at odds with his human self, or is he?   

Star Trek II is where the Star Trek movie series began to hit its stride.  Its characters are fleshed out, it has the best villain of the series, and a conclusion which keeps providing mixed emotions all the way until the closing credits.  That is a positive.