Unreality Companion: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

In which I expand on the content from my weekly Unrealitymag.com article.

It tuned out that writing this week's Unreality article - a review of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - was a Hell of a lot harder to do than I initially thought that it would be.  Even though I was never especially fond of Star Trek before the 2009 reboot, Leonard Nimoy was never the less a large part of my young adulthood, especially for the work he did on The Voyage Home (which was a frequent guilty pleasure of mine growing up).  I guess that he simply meant a lot more to me than I was ever willing to admit to myself.

When scouting barren worlds for artificial revegetation, Commander Chekov and Captain Tarrel of Starfleet are captured by Khan Noonien Singh - the 20th century arch nemesis of Kirk and the Enterprise.  Blaming Kirk for both his exile and his wife's death, the deranged superman vows to stop at nothing in his quest for revenge, leaving nothing - and nobody - safe from his wrath.

Although often hailed as the quintessential Star Trek story, I personally can't really see what's so great about it on the whole.  While Khan is certainly the franchise's most singularly iconic villain, he doesn't really hold up on his own merit in this film: leaning far too heavily on his reputation and past encounters with the Enterprise crew to ever really do anything particularly memorable in the movie that bears his name.  The plot - which hinges utterly on the mysterious Genesis Device - is an insipidly uninteresting occasion for the story that it attempts (and largely fails) to tell.  And the acting - oh, the acting - Will Shatner gives what is hands down the most absurdly over-the-top performance of his career, which is certainly saying something.

For all of the protestations to the contrary, the only reason why this movie is remembered at all today is Spock's admittedly heart-rending death scene.  In a coldly logical decision "that would be made only by a hero, a fool, or a Vulcan," Spock sacrifices himself in order to save the his fellow crew members, because "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

The scene is about as hard to watch in the wake of Nimoy's actual death as you would imagine.  It touches on a profoundly emotional core that even non-fans of the series can easily tap into.  Not only does logic necessitate that Spock must die, but passion necessitates that Kirk must bear witness: to watch his longtime friend waste away before his eyes, knowing with absolute certainty that there is nothing that he can do to save him.

Despite being at odds with the optimistic tone of the television series, The Wrath of Khan does succeed where Star Trek: The Motion Picture failed.  Its redoubled focus on character interaction over conception and continuity over innovation keep it focused on the core of the story: Kirk and Spock's unlikely friendship.  It likewise is remarkably consistent with its internal themes of aging, death and eventual rebirth, which lends itself toward detailed and continued analysis.  And there is absolutely no denying that Spock's death is a franchise highlight whose emotional impact has yet to be replicated in all the years since.

Rating:  5/10

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