‘Star Trek: Section 31’ Boldly Strikes A New Low For the Franchise
Image Courtesy of Paramount+
By Luis Zonenberg
If Deadpool & Wolverine was a tribute to films from the 2000s, then Star Trek: Section 31 serves as the time capsule from that bygone era of filmmaking. This latest entry in the franchise is the first television film made for the franchise and the first film to be released since Star Trek: Beyond premiered almost ten years ago. Unlike other entries though, this film seems rather content venturing to where audiences have certainly been before.
The story focuses on Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) running a nightclub when she’s approached by a black ops division called Section 31, led by the mysterious Agent Alok (Omari Hardwick). While initially hesitant, Georgiou ultimately teams up with Section 31 in hopes of expunging her criminal record. She soon finds herself plagued by the ghosts of her past and must confront these demons before they take everyone down with her.
The filmmakers advertised this movie as Guardians of the Galaxy meets Mission: Impossible, but it sadly falls short of the charm those two franchises have. The script feels very derivative from other spy thrillers and doesn’t offer any new twist on the typical tropes or story. It instead offers a rather confusing backstory that introduces the macguffin of the film and leaves very little room for suspects when the mystery eventually unfolds.
A large majority of the cast feels like they’re on autopilot, with Michelle Yeoh leading it front and center. Only in the last third of the film does she actually look invested and try to deliver some genuine emotion. However, she bafflingly seems to ham it up and treats it like she’s in a comedy for most of the film. The only outliers who were enjoyable throughout were Joe Pingue as Dada Noe and Kacey Rohl as Rachel Garrett.
The cinematography was absolutely abysmal, making a good chunk of the sets look very cheap and tacky. The few “grand wide shots” it offered felt very lackluster and failed to use the most of its scope on the screen. Whenever an action scene occurred, though, I could barely make out what was happening due to the camera constantly shaking and moving away from it.
The real travesty here was the editing, which served as the real throwback to the awful action films from the 2000s. There were so many constant zoom-ins to various characters and objects that made the film so annoying to sit through. We also cut away from each shot at such a rapid pace that viewers can’t take in much of the scenery or any emotion being displayed on the screen.
Overall, the movie marks a huge disappointment for the Star Trek franchise, one I feel it cannot recover from. The movie fails to offer any twist or spin on ideas audiences have grown accustomed to and it lacks much of the charm from the movies it does pull from. In the end, Star Trek: Section 31 is an illogical mess and a boring reminder of where audiences do not want to go.
Star Trek: Section 31 is now Streaming on Paramount+
Rating: ★ ½ of five
