Stark Trek: Section 31, a feature film that's a spinoff of the series Star Trek: Discovery, will soon be available to stream on Paramount+. The movie immediately grips its audience by the throat, delivering a cold open about the brutality necessary to acquire power that almost rivals Anakin Skywalker's march on the Jedi temple in Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately, the film quickly cools off from there, struggling to find its footing until the midway point, when it improves, but not enough to rescue itself from mediocrity.
Section 31 has an intriguing premise. The former Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) joins a ragtag division of Starfleet staffed with beings that "bend the rules but never quite break them.” The clear theme of the story is reckoning with the past. Can Georgiou somehow atone for or escape her history as a brutal dictator in order to do something good for the universe?
Yeoh's strong performance gives some amount of depth to her character, hinting at hidden feelings and regrets underneath a hard exterior. But other than Georgiou, it's a challenge to feel much of anything for the rest of the ensemble of characters until their personalities shine through a bit in the final act.
By that time, of course, some viewers may have already given up on the film, which after the cold open becomes a pale imitation of a Guy Ritchie crime comedy. Most of the jokes don't really land, feeling like they belong on a bland network sitcom. (Joe Pingue's Dada Noe is an exception, however. He's hilarious in his brief appearances).
The film does deliver a few surprises that will likely excite Stark Trek devotees. And Section 31's conclusion almost leaves the viewer wanting more. But it's hard to ignore that the film is giving us things we've seen many times before. Section 31 is brimming over with interesting ideas. But in the end, the movie fails to execute any of them particularly well.
Section 31 adds a notable chapter to the growing Star Trek franchise, but will likely fail to intrigue viewers who aren't already fans. The film premieres on Paramount+ on January 24.
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