Star Trek: 9 Reasons Why Wrath Of Khan Is Still The Best

5. The Khan-Kirk Relationship

It€™s been said many times before, and it€™s worth saying again here: Khan and Kirk are never on screen together in Wrath of Khan. The entire movie is built around their conflict, around Khan€™s need for revenge on Kirk and Kirk€™s responses to Khan, but they never actually meet in person. We hear all their history secondhand, and they have only a handful of conversations. And that works. It€™s written well enough that the conflict is believable, that the plot makes sense, and the emotions seem genuine. But in Into Darkness, the meeting between Khan and Kirk and the things they do together are the centerpiece of the film. The relationship has a healthy dose of suspicion and standard Hollywood €œunwilling partnership,€ and that€™s it. It€™s nothing special. Khan doesn€™t even kill Kirk: it€™s a complete accident that Kirk dies as a result of Khan€™s actions, and Khan wasn€™t even aiming for that.
Contributor
Contributor

Rebecca Kulik lives in Iowa, reads an obsence amount, watches way too much television, and occasionally studies for her BA in History. Come by her personal pop culture blog at tyrannyofthepetticoat.wordpress.com and her reading blog at journalofimaginarypeople.wordpress.com.