☆ ☆ ☆ ½
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) – N.
Meyer
Possibly I hadn’t seen this one since 1982,
but by all reports it was the best of the O. G. Star Trek movies. However, let’s begin by acknowledging that
the TV series itself was better than the films – if you haven’t watched enough
of Gene Roddenberry’s original creation (especially perhaps the episode “Space
Seed” to which this film is a sequel), then a lot of the nostalgic nods to the
past won’t make much sense. So, the film
takes place later in time, when the main characters, Captain Kirk (Wm Shatner),
Mr Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr Bones McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Mr “Scotty” Scott
(James Doohan), Mr Sulu (George Takei), Mr Chekov (Walter Koenig), and Ms Uhura
(Nichelle Nichols), are now older and involved in more senior roles for Star Fleet
Academy – Kirk is an Admiral, Spock is a Captain and head of Training, and so
on. When they are all on board the
Enterprise for a training mission, they are suddenly called away to help a
distant space station (which is home to Kirk’s ex and her son as well as a
secret new terraforming device that destroys everything before it creates new
life). However, on the way there, they
are waylaid by an old enemy who has been recently freed from his prison: yes,
Khan, played with great zeal by Ricardo Montalban. Montalban is the main reason to watch this
film! That said, the plot is probably more
exciting than that of the other O. G. films (which I hardly remember) and one
of the main characters does die! (Cue
the sequel). To conclude: watching the original series would be a
better dose of nostalgia for those who want it.
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