Review of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) by Darren C — 23 May 2012

Yet again, I'm back reviewing another Star Trek movie and this time, it's The Wrath of Khan. As I have said in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture review, and as I will say on every Star Trek review, I'm not at all a fan of Star Trek and I don't know hardly anything about the Star Trek universe. This review you are about to read is from a non-Trek fan's point of view. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is loved by the fans and so after hearing this news from a friend who is also a Star Trek fan, I thought that it would be a little better than Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Alas, I did not think it was so great and yet again, it wasn't friendly to those who wanted to get into Star Trek, however it has improved from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a dangerous human genetically enhanced manages to escape from a planet where the Enterprise abandoned him and left him for over two decades. Although Khan wants to escape, revenge against James T. Kirk is the first thing on his mind. So the movie might be a favourite to Trekkies out there but to all of you people who are curious about the movie series, this probably won't be the movie to get you into it. Granted that Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan has improved majorly from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the main problem would have to be that it doesn't immediately grab you and may take a while for you to get into the story. It had taken me near enough the duration of the movie to properly get into the movie but there's no doubt that this movie is made for fans of the Star Trek universe. The acting has improved a little from Star Trek: The Motion Picture but not by much as the quality of the acting is almost the same as in the first movie and feels a little too cheesy at times. However, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan does have a couple of good scenes involving Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, and Kirk, played by William Shatner.

Another thing that was great about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan were the special effects and the battles. Taking in mind that Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was made in the eighties when special effects were getting better as time went by, I thought that they were good and rather enjoyable but again, I've seen better in its time. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan has much better writing and direction than Star Trek: The Motion Picture and is a lot more structured, however it shouldn't take the duration of the movie to get into the story. While the characters are given more to do this time around and are a little more interesting than last time, they're still not interesting and almost forgettable, you couldn't really care for them. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan may be the best Star Trek movie to Trek fans since this movie was for them but for people who are trying to get into the series, this may not help as the movie is pretty hard to get into.

The movie is not a bad movie at all, however this could have easily been improved and could have been a little more friendly to newcomers such as myself. Unfortunately, except for Star Trek 2009, I've yet to see a Star Trek movie and not use Google afterwards for explanations. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan would be loved by Trek fans and there's no doubt they'd probably enjoy it. However, for those who are curious about Star Trek and want to watch the movies, I'm going to suggest what I said in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture review and tell you to brush up on your Trek facts before watching this or you may get lost and confused.