Film There is a reason why it's the best Trek movie, and my personal favorite.
I LOVE THIS MOVIE. Star Trek II really has everything a Trek movie needs, and cranks the good up to eleven. Why?
-Scenes that are not overproduced, and contain meaning. Each scene is essential to the themes of the movie.
-The themes of the movie are what you would find in a Shakespeare drama. They deal with loss, revenge, insanity, friendship, age, change, the misuse of science, and love.
-The characters are all developed to a certain extent. You feel for Khan because he lost all that he loved, and yet fear him because he can put bug things in the ears of Starfleet officers. Kirk in this movie is a deconstruction of his (albeit entertaining) Marty Stu-esque behavior in the Series by showing that actions will bite you in the end.
-The acting is full of ham ("THIS IS CETI ALPHA FIVE!") and ("KHHHHAAAANNNN!"), and I would not have it any other way.
-While it could be scary, it always had a little bit of class to show that they cared.
-The ending.... To not spoil anything, if you don't feel anything at the end of the movie, then go in for a heart transplant, because your heart is not working.
-While the FX do look weak, they do the best with the 100-or-so bucks that they gave them. They even reuse some effects from the first film, yet do it tastefully.
As a trek film AND as a regular film, I give this movie 100 points out of 10. Even if you hate Trek with a burning passion, you will like this movie.
Film Slow
Let me begin by saying that I neither love nor hate Star Trek. I'm rather ambivalent towards it — I don't mind watching it with friends, but it's not the sort of thing I'll watch on my own.
I have an inverse relationship with what people tell me about a work of fiction and how I view it. If people tell me it sucks, I'll usually watch it and find it...not that bad. If people tell me it's awesome, I'll check it out and find that...it's okayish at best (The Dark Knight) or THE WORST THING I'VE EVER SEEN (cough *Kill Bill* cough). So you can imagine my reaction when I watched The Wrath of Khan to see if it was as amazing as everyone says.
It's...slow. Now don't get me wrong, it's an enjoyable enough movie in and of itself, but it's SLOOOOOWWWWW. Sometimes a slow-paced plot can work, but here, it just doesn't (for me; needless to say, YMMV). The whole thing drags — you find yourself wishing that Khan would just blow Kirk away and be done with it. ( He doesn't.)
In the end, while I believe that the movie is well-made, it's too slow for me. And it kind of tainted my view of Star Trek as a whole, considering that the fanbase seems to consider it the pinnacle of the franchise (at least to my understanding).