Review #299: 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' (1982)

So here I continue into the previously unexplored universe that is Star Trek. After being pleasantly surprised by the first instalment, I was looking forward to the second offering, in part as I had heard that this was in fact the best of the bunch. However, I find that this film offers much of the same as the first, not really surpassing in any way. The action is muted, the acting is unappealing, but the idea is interesting. This was the difference between the two warring space franchises; the Star Wars saga is fast and fantastical; Star Trek tends to be slower, but has it's narrative ideas firmly placed within science.

Star Trek II begins with Kirk (William Shatner) believing he is too old to command a ship (I feel the retirement element of the original cast will be a theme for the rest of their movie outings), but is taken on a mission due to him already being on an inspection of the Starship Enterprise. A project called Genesis is being undertaken, but after surveying planets, Mr Chekov (Walter Koeing) and Captain Terrel (Paul Winfield), are infected with a parasite that controls their minds, by Khan (Ricardo Montalban), who had been abandoned on the desolate planet 15 years previously by Captian Kirk. Khan wants revenge.

The interesting science behind the movie is its theme of evolution. The Genesis project will be able to create life on uninhabitable rocks. This accelerates the evolutionary process and creates life in hours. Yet again, Star Trek offers an interesting idea. Perhaps because my expectations were a little higher for this "best offering", but I found it to be flawed but a little bit of subdued fun. The film also offers some very decent model work and special effects (including one of the first computer generated images (CGI).


Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy