Posted in: Movies, Paramount+, Review, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: michelle yeoh, section 31, star trek

Section 31 Review: Star Trek Film Proves Fun Ride, Hits Familiar Notes

While the standalone adventure doesn't exactly tread new ground, Star Trek: Section 31 is a fun ride that opens up interesting possibilities.

Paramount appears to be testing the viability of Star Trek as a streaming film franchise, evoking the familiar tones of the more action-oriented entries from the Kelvin films to Discovery with Section 31. Starring Michelle Yeoh, who reprises her role as Philippa Georgiou, as a pseudo-spinoff of Discovery, the film finds the character in a self-enclosed story initially as a nightclub owner under a new alias when Starfleet's secret organization seeks her out for her services. The story doesn't presume the audience has seen Discovery so there's no required viewing for this film.

How Section 31 Expands Philippa Georgiou's Star Trek Story While Introducing a New Crew

The story starts with a flashback of Georgiou's dark beginnings with the Mirror Universe and the Terran Empire, establishing early the cruelty needed to survive. When we catch up to the character in the present day with no explanation of how the Guardian of Forever in Discovery paved the way for her current stop, embracing shades of her old life through her fashion, indulgence, and dietary choices.

We meet the crew led by Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick), who possesses the physical prowess and mental acumen that nearly matches Georgiou. We get a few nods to Star Trek: The Original Series with Quasi (Sam Richardson), a Chameloid, and Melle (Humberly González), a Deltan. We also have additional muscle in Zeph (Robert Kazinsky), a mech suit-wearing burly figure, a Vulcan/Romulan wildcard in Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok), and perhaps the name to most closely watch in regard to the film's biggest tie to the syndicated canon in Lt. Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), the would-be future captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise-C.

There's a lot to unload aside from director Olatunde Osunsanmi and writers Craig Sweeny, Bo Yeon Kim, and Erika Lippoldt trying to create compelling characters to build around Yeoh's Georgiou and, for the most part, succeed. If it were a TV series, we probably get to know the ensemble better, but the space is largely reserved for Georgiou's backstory, the team's mission to save the galaxy, and a redemptive story that seems to have too many similarities to Yeoh's story with Sonequa Martin-Green's Michael Burnham on Discovery.

While it's beneficial for the uninitiated, those who have seen Yeoh struggle and succeed in her relationship with Prime Michael to make up for the way her relationship ended with Mirror Michael don't get anything that feels like it advances her story. Without mentioning ANY events or cast of her Terran crew on Discovery, we find out that Georgiou did have a love for another in San (James Hiroyuki Liao), but it's something that was minimally fleshed out because of how packed everything else is. It felt more like a refined and recycled arc between a "mother" in Georgiou and who she sees as a "daughter" in Michael. Does it mean more because people grew up together? It doesn't offer anything more than what Discovery already gave in a more profound manner.

There's nothing wrong with the performances in Section 31 because Yeoh shines as a notorious scene chewer. Hardwick is similar to a taskmaster and has the same level of charisma as David Ajala's Book in Discovery, complementing Yeoh in their scenes. As far as other standouts, Ruygrok has that Jim Carrey manic energy that's so reminiscent of the zanier alien characters of Men in Black. Rohl is front and center when it comes to taking charge in all her scenes and is capable of being a secondary lead when needed, even if her character is designed to be "by the book." There are moments when Section 31 leans on its Star Trek ingenuity, but it also embraces the zaniness of other action-packed sci-fi brethren like Farscape, Stargate, and Men in Black.

Credit also goes to Osunsanmi and executive producer Alex Kurtzman for being the first Paramount+ project to focus on Star Trek's "Lost" era from Generations to The Next Generation. You had shades of that rogue nature when we saw Picard in season one, but it looks like they've polished that concept for Section 31. The film, which also stars Joe Pingue and Miku Martineau, streams January 24th on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Section 31

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Review by Tom Chang

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7.5/10

Michelle Yeoh reprises her role as Phlippa Georgiou leading the ensemble cast in the Paramount+ film Star Trek: Section 31, retaining the glorious fight choreography, while fighting an all too familiar internal battle with the past. Director Olatunde Osunsanmi picks up where he left off and Kacey Rohl has the makings of earning her way to a U.S.S. Enterprise-C spinoff series should the opportunity arise.

Credits

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Director

Olatunde Osunsanmi

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