Since Star Trek is celebrating 50 years in 2016, it is hard to believe that many people are still into this sci-fi franchise and the process is very difficult to keep a franchise relevant for that long. But, I do think that this is appropriate, since another Trek movie is coming out this weekend, to evaluate probably the best movie in its franchise by many people including myself: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It is essentially a personal battle for most of the movie but its story about vengeance keeps the whole movie going with a quick pace regarding its main plot, its subplot, special effects and quiet moments between certain characters.
After the failure of its predecessor, Paramount and its director, Nicholas Meyer, decided to intelligently scale back on its budget and its storytelling. I cannot imagine an $11 million movie turned into a huge success with such a simplistic story because the first movie tried too hard to become a movie like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey because of the epic scope and sheer visuals. However, the movie took too long to get going regarding its storyline and even the story seemed to meander. But, even though the teamwork was there, the intellectual thought behind the plot was not. I felt that this sequel, one of the best sequels for sure, combines ideas, drama and action better than any Trek movie in the series.
| KHAAAAAANNNNNN!!! |
Meanwhile, the U.S.S. Reliant is on a mission scavenging for a lifeless planet with the Genesis Device, a technology designed to reorganize matter to create habitable worlds in order to colonize the planet. Commander Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Captain Terrell (Paul Winfield) beam down and are captured by genetically engineered tyrant, Khan (Ricardo Montalban) and his crew. They were marooned down at Ceti Alpha V 15 years ago and when another planet exploded, it shift Ceti Alpha V and destroyed its ecosystem. Khan swears revenge on Kirk for the death of his wife. To control Chekov and Terrell, Khan implants indigenous, weird creatures in their ears for mind control.
While on a three-week training voyage, the Enterprise is ambushed and attacked by the Reliant which is controlled by Khan and his crew, marooning the Reliant's original crew to Ceti Alpha V. After the attack, Kirk sees Khan on-screen and he is surprised it was Khan attacking him. Khan offers to spare Kirk's crew if they relinquish all the material on Genesis. In return, Kirk uses the other's ship prefix code to successfully counterattack in which the result is that the Reliant has lost control and Khan surrenders...for now.
Obviously, from the picture above, there'll probably be spoilers. So, SPOILER ALERT.
This latest sequel and a couple of other movies in the franchise heavily borrows from Herman Melville's Moby Dick in which a villain or its counterpart uses the theme of vengeance to hunt down an enemy. Khan wants to avenge his wife in order to kill Kirk and he uses his tactics to play games with him. And, I did notice this in the movie that there is not one scene in which Montalban and Shatner are face-to-face. It is a chess match in space as to what Kirk or Khan is strategizing in order to defeat an opponent. Plus, accompanied by solid special effects for its time and a fantastic score by the late great James Horner, the two battle sequences are riveting and also they provide a bit of quiet anticipation, especially in its climactic battle in the Nebula system.
Another theme that occurs is old age and Kirk establishes in his silence and pause between his dialogue that he is starting to be less thrilled by how life is changing rapidly for him. For example, McCoy gives him reading glasses for his birthday and based on his expression, he is not that thrilled. I felt that Nicholas Meyer linked old age and friendship quite well in this movie.
From which, it leads to my final theme regarding self-sacrifice linking to friendship as well. Spock represents logical fallacy and Kirk represents literal fallacy in which the movie combines both of their personalities in both the scenes in which Kirk and a couple of his crew are trapped on the planet and escape and the climactic battle. When Kirk comes down to engineering, he sees that Spock was the officer who restored the warp drive, resulting in radiation poisoning and burns. And, that iconic scene between Spock and Kirk in the engine room, which causes many fans and maybe males to cry, represents that strong bond of friendship between them and also represents what Gene Roddenberry, the creator, wanted to showcase its fans. In the end, it's all about family.
It is a very complex sci-fi film combining themes, lessons, special effects and ideas to represent what Star Trek is truly about. It is also impressive that when many people are not familiar with its franchise, the one movie that many people will recognize is the Wrath of Khan because it was almost the ultimate sci-fi revenge story for its time. After Nemesis, it seemed that the series was defunct but after J.J. Abrams' reboot in 2009, a newer generation came to fruition that this was a movie on its own but researched that there were other movies and other series. Well, if there is one Trek movie that a person that is uninterested in the franchise should look at, it's this one first. So, here's to another 50 years.
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