Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a rare sequel. Not only is it a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (ST:TMP), but it is also a sequel to the Original Series episode Space Seed (in which Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew find a spaceship from 1996 containing a group of genetically engineered supermen and women who try to take over the Enterprise). It is even more uncommon in that it is one of those few sequels that is better than the first film. While ST:TMP is not near as bad as it is often made out to be, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is quite possibly the Star Trek series' best installment. Combining excitement, humor, and character exploration (and an unforgettable villain) in a way that few Trek films have, Star Trek II does indeed stake a good claim to a "best of series" crown.

As the film begins, we see that Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is now captain of the Enterprise, which is serving as a training vessel for Star Fleet Academy cadets.
Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), meanwhile, is going through a midlife crisis, wishing that he were still young enough to adventure through the galaxy as easily as the cadets. However, Kirk's past is about to come back to him violently when the starship Reliant discovers Khan Noonian Singh (Ricardo Montalban) on planet Ceti Alpha V. Khan is a twentieth-century genetically designed superman whom Kirk had left behind some fifteen years before, along with his wife, who had once been a member of the Enterprise crew. Burning with rage after having lost his wife, Khan takes over the Reliant, determined to avenge himself upon Kirk and anyone who gets in his way.

The Wrath of Khan may be the perfect Original Series film. Director (and un-credited co-screenwriter) Nicholas Meyer has created a film that acknowledges that our heroes must age as the series progresses. He has also re-created a villain with a simple but burning desire for revenge that drives the plot of the entire film. This film feels like classic Star Trek much more than ST:TMP. It is not a grand sci-fi epic like its predecessor, but it is intimate and charming, very much like an Original Series episode decked out with all the trimmings of a feature film.

When it comes to its characters, this is one of the more analytical Trek installments. From its opening scene (with the welcome return of Alexander Courage's ten-note Star Trek fanfare) this film tries to get beneath Admiral Kirk's skin and probe into his feelings about growing older. At one point he has a discussion with Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) in which it is so obvious that Kirk hates aging that Bones exclaims, "Other people have birthdays, why are we treating yours like a funeral?" Kirk's outlook on his age is reinforced, to him at least, when he is caught unprepared by Khan in their first encounter. Later, when confronted with David (Merritt Butrick), a son that he never met, Kirk tells his old flame Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), "I feel old ... worn out." Fortunately, however, Meyer and screenwriter Jack B. Sowards don't let Kirk wallow in self pity. When he regains himself, Trek fans will recognize the old James T. Kirk, with his tactical abilities and skill at deception. The Kirk we see in The Wrath of Khan is an older and wiser Kirk, who still possesses the character's brashness and cleverness but that has had much of his former cockiness and self-confidence pruned away.

The other familiar characters are in good form here as well. Leonard Nimoy offers a magnificently subtle performance. He plays Spock in the same quiet, thoughtful way that he always has, but it is obvious that Spock has taken the lessons he learned from V'ger in the first film to heart. He openly admits his friendship with Admiral Kirk, and he doesn't put down emotions the way he used to in the Original Series. DeForest Kelley is brilliant as Bones. Since the character has always seemed very comfortable with himself, he doesn't change his performance much, but he plays McCoy with warmth and gusto. His debate with Spock over the morality of the Genesis device, a torpedo that can almost instantly terraform or destroy a planet, is an absolutely classic Spock-Bones debate that not only examines a serious question but provides some welcome humor. Spock dryly comments, "I was not attempting to evaluate its moral implications, Doctor. As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than create." Bones, in expressing his disgust at the idea of the Genesis device, exclaims, "Not anymore, now we can do both at the same time. According to myth, the Earth was created in six days. Now watch out: here comes Genesis. We'll do it for you in six minutes!" Anyone who loved the Original Series will get a smile out of this classic exchange. The three main characters are extremely well served in this movie.

One problem with ST:TMP was that the supporting cast members did not have much more to do than sit at their stations and obey orders. The Wrath of Khan happily remedies this. Scotty (James Doohan) is seen once again tending his engines, but he is also confronted head-on with Khan's vengeance when his (Scotty's) nephew is mortally wounded and dies right before him. Doohan's performance is exceptionally moving, particularly as he tries but fails to hold back his tears. Chekov (Walter Koenig) is promoted to first officer of the Reliant and has to suffer a mind-controlling eel put into his ear by Khan. Koenig gets a chance to show off his famous screaming skills in more than one scene here. Unfortunately, Mr. Sulu (George Takei) and Commander Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) don't have much to do, but this is a film with a large cast, and their characters will be more prominent in the next installment. Mention must also be made of Kirstie Alley as Lt. Saavik and Paul Winfield as Captain Terrell. In her first film role, Alley imbues Saavik with just enough youthful arrogance to get under Kirk's skin, but she also has the skill and curiosity of a Starfleet officer and makes a very positive impression on both Kirk and Spock. One could easily see her as a member of the Enterprise crew. Winfield takes a character that is not much more than a generic "captain" and, using his assuring voice and subtle gestures, makes this blank slate of a role come to life.

The most important guest star in this film is of course Ricardo Montalban as Khan. Montalban presents his character with a theatrical flamboyance that makes him a contender for the title of Trek's best villain (although this reviewer would personally give that distinction to Marc Alaimo's Gul Dukat from Deep Space Nine). When he refers to Kirk as his "old friend," the contempt with which he speaks makes it plain just how much hatred he bears the Admiral. His constant referring to ideas and lines from Moby Dick and the operatic way in which he does so also make him an enduring villain. Montalban's skill in this film is unforgettable, and it enormously helps this adventure to be the classic that it is. Overall, The Wrath of Khan boasts a superb cast that truly seem to inhabit their characters.

Nicholas Meyer was a wonderful choice to helm this film. As has previously been noted, he is not afraid to acknowledge that the characters are growing older, nor is he hesitant about pushing them in new directions. Visually, he adds a nautical feeling to the film that was missing in the first. His focus on the Enterprise's preparations for battle, and the way he and the special effects team make the battles between the Enterprise and the Reliant look like submarine battles tends to humanize the film. While this does mean that The Wrath of Khan will not be the 2001-esque epic that ST:TMP was, it does make us care about what happens to the characters that much more.

(Spoilers in this paragraph) Probably the biggest chance taken in this film is the death of the series' signature character, Mr. Spock. It is one of the most moving moments in the series' entire history, and it is well played by both Shatner and Nimoy. Separated by a clear wall, Spock slowly dies immediately before Kirk's eyes. He tells Kirk not to grieve and echoes a previous conversation they had regarding logic. He tells Kirk, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," and in a tear-jerking moment says to him, "I have been, and always shall be, your friend." Shatner perhaps gives his single most effective Star Trek performance with his eulogy. The way his voice almost breaks when he says that Spock's soul was the most human that he had ever met is heartbreaking. The scene is incredibly emotional (particularly when Scotty plays a rendition of Amazing Grace on the bagpipes) and helps to make it the Original Series' best film installment.

While The Wrath of Khan is a rousing and exciting film, it also, like the best episodes of the Original Series, touches on several important and thought provoking themes. The concept of the Genesis device adds some themes familiar from Frankenstein, particularly in the debates over the moral consequences of its use (this theme will be examined further in Star Trek III). This is also demonstrated in the fact that Kirk, fifteen years before, had almost blithely sent Khan and his people to exile and then, as Khan hisses, "never bothered to check on our progress." The motifs of consequences and responsibility hover throughout the film.

Another, more prominent, theme is that of death and sacrifice. From the very first scene in the film, where we see Lt. Saavik taking the Kobayashi Maru test (a no-win scenario simulation), we see images of death and pain. These continue through the death of Scotty's nephew and the scenes of the Reliant blasting her phasers through the hull of the Enterprise. This theme is also subtly reflected in Kirk's mid-life crisis. These meditations on pain and death are complimented by an exploration of the meaning of sacrifice. Early in the film, Spock tells Kirk "... [W]ere I to invoke logic, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." The theme culminates in the scene mentioned in the above spoiler paragraph, a scene in which Spock says to Kirk, "I never took the Kobayashi Maru test, until now. What do you think of my solution?" The exchange between the two also shows us that Kirk is finally forced to face his own no-win scenario. The Wrath of Khan contains a number of profound ideas and themes in its swashbuckling adventure, and the exploration of these ideas follows the great Star Trek tradition of trying to be more than just an exciting space opera (a trait that even the series' weakest cinematic effort, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, shares).

The Wrath of Khan is a outstanding film. In it, we have adventure, excitement, humor, and sadness all rolled up into one coherent piece. The actors are in top form, the script is daring, and the ending makes this a landmark in the series' ongoing saga. This is probably the best filmic adventure that we have with the original cast of Star Trek.