My Review of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"

Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan came out back in 1982. Admittedly I didn't get to see this for another 20 years after it was released. When I did see it I was hooked. This movie was the movie that got me into Star Trek. I didn't know anything about the TV series but this movie just sucked me into their world and I've been a fan ever since. Now another 20 years hit and I'm marathoning the movies all over again. I wanted to see if this movie still holds up. Spoiler alert yes it does.

This movie might as well have been a movie all of its own. It doesn't really have anything to do with the first movie. Some might be a little confused as to why it's considered a sequel. It's all based in the same timeline and universe so I guess that's why.

The movie starts off with the old cast and crew together. There seems to be some sort of space battle between the Starship Enterprise and some Klingons. We all get startled when we realize the captain is a new character Saavik. The movie turns us upside down again when we realize she's not actually the captain. Everything is part of a test. Saavik is taking the infamous Kobayashi Maru test. It's kind of a foreshadow and metaphor for what's to come later on in the movie.

The Kobayashi Maru is a test that officers take as a test of character. It's an unwinnable situation to see how the candidates deal with pressure and stress. Kirk is on the ship and he's actually the only one that has ever passed this test. It's all a mystery but it's a great reveal at the end as to what he really did.

All this to say there's a totally green crew that is onboard the Starship Enterprise. They're going to go on another maiden training voyage with the new and upcoming crew. Admiral Kirk and the rest of his ragtag crew are on board to help things out.

Meanwhile the Starship Reliant had received a distress signal on a mysterious planet and are unfortunately ambushed. It turns out it's this terrible villain named Khan that Kirk had defeated many moons ago. Khan happens to be a very intelligent and talented man but his hubris is his ego and his need of revenge against Kirk.

After their grand escape, Khan and his gang of misfits create a wild plan to steal this powerful project named Genesis. Seeing as the creators of Genesis are Kirk's ex Carol and Kirk's estranged son David this turns out to be very profitable. Khan uses these two as leverage over Kirk to tie him into a trap. Sounds like a Kobayashi Maru test doesn't it?

Well I'm not going to spoil the rest of the movie because it's just fantastic. Watching it again I realized how great it was. Sure the special effects are pretty bad and some of the actions are a little non-sensical but damn is it fun. I couldn't look away from the screen because the pacing was non stop. Something always seemed to be going on all all times and everything is significant to the main story.

As a Star Trek movie there are tons of moral themes throughout the movie. You have the discussion as to what is the best course of action to take. Each character has to do what they have to in their own way. There are many Kobayashi Maru situations in this movie and each of the characters reactions are different from one another.

This also cements why we all love Kirk so much. He uses his wits and smarts to beat out his opponents. How do you beat someone that has the upper hand? In this movie they tell us to look around because there are always options.

Overall, this movie brought me back to why I loved this movie so much. You can technically watch this movie as a stand alone movie and understand what's going on. This time they did a better job in introducing our characters and getting the story moving. Luckily for me this is still my favorite Star Trek movie and I have to give this one a 9 out of 10. Tell me you're not a Star Trek fan after watching this and I'll tell you that you're a liar.