Lambie Reviews Star Trek II: The Wrath of KHAAAAN!

Year: 1982
Accolades: Essential Science Fiction; Managed to Enter Pop Culture Through a Single Line
Review on Letterboxd: 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' review by Avalanche

This film is not just great science fiction, it's just good cinema. It could have been so easy for much of this film to fall into the cliché basket, but it wisely and expertly manoeuvres around them all, or at least gives the ones that are there reason to be there.

None of the characters are two dimensional. For the most part, this is because many of them were well established through the TV show and a previous film, but those that are new still feel like they fit right in to the universe created here without feeling like cardboard cutouts. Khan, having appeared in a single TV episode before, is precisely the sort of villain this sort of film needs. He is highly intelligent, has an explainable motive for his actions, and yet is ultimately flawed, in much the same way that everyone else in the film has their flaws. Both Khan and Kirk exploit each others weaknesses and flaws to try and get the upper hand.

It all results in some great tension and ultimately some tragedy as well. When a surprise is sprung or a secret plan revealed, the payoff always feels rewarding. Many modern imitations go in all guns blazing with huge action sequences with loads of special effects. Instead everything is much more focused on the battle of the wits at play, with very few blows landed on either side. The film is paced extremely well in this regard. An idea will be introduced into play, and then left to settle in the background of the audience's mind for a while before it is brought back into play and used to progress the story further, and to escalate the ongoing personal duel between Kirk and Khan.

Yes, the film does have some drawbacks. You could argue that some of the special effects look a bit dated by today's standards, and some of the dialogue is still a bit hokey. But it doesn't really matter, because the rest of the film is good enough that you don't worry about the drawbacks, but rather just accept that they are necessary in order to tell a really good, entertaining story.