Star Trek: Section 31 review – "Michelle Yeoh deserves far better than this sci-fi spin-off"

Star Trek is boldly going where no chapter of this long-running franchise has gone before with Section 31, a Michelle Yeoh-starring vehicle that takes place in the "lost era" set between the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. But fourteen films in, it feels like this latest effort is lost in more ways than one.

It's been six years since Section 31 was first announced, developing at a pace that's very much warp factor 10 (if we were in the Mirror Universe rather than real life). What started out as a spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery eventually became a movie – the franchise's first film developed for streaming – after COVID-related delays set Section 31 on a new trajectory. What's always remained consistent throughout all this though is Yeoh's involvement, which the entire project hinges on.

The Oscar-winning superstar and all-round badass plays Philippa Georgiou – not the one who died in Discovery's pilot episode, but a more twisted version from that aforementioned Mirror Universe. In Section 31, Empress Georgiou ends up working with the titular organisation, a secret, black ops division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets from the seedier threats our faves on the Enterprise would know nothing about. It's an unlikely team-up that's quite literally worlds away from the usual heroism and unflinching positivity that Starfleet has traditionally been associated with.

That might explain why our first glimpse of the film felt so "lost" as well when it debuted at SDCC last summer. Going for a Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, the initial trailer struck an odd tone somewhere between serious and camp with Yeoh being described as a "bad bitch" to the sound of Beyoncé's 'Formation'. Not exactly your gran's Star Trek then.

But that in of itself isn't an issue. Long-running franchises of this magnitude shouldn't play it safe unless they risk being outdated, a mere footnote in the Captain's log. No, the problem is that Section 31 does feel dated still, despite forging new ground for Star Trek in a thematic sense.

An engaging start

You wouldn't know this from the opening scene, however. Following the title reveal, which is of course mirrored, then reversed, Section 31 opens on a brutal landscape where we meet a much younger version of the Empress, played brilliantly by Miku Martineau. She's returned home to these harsh conditions, a dried out husk of a farm, to reunite with her family after competing for the title of Empress. But Georgiou has one last task to perform if she's to secure her title, and secure it she does in the most harrowing way possible.

These first five minutes had me yearning for a theatrical release of Section 31 so that I could fully appreciate the scale of this opening, visually, yes, but also in terms of the moral intrigue proposed here too. Yet that longing quickly passed once Section 31 jumps to the "present". Suddenly, what felt expensive and cinematic becomes reminiscent of Star Trek on the small screen, and no, I don't mean recent efforts like the incredible Strange New Worlds, which makes full use of a smaller budget to dazzling effect.

From this point on, Section 31 feels small in the same way that a straight-to-DVD spin-off felt like back in the noughties. Because yes, this is "Star Trek" in theory, but a diluted, basic version that would have suffered so much more as a viewing experience had it been shown in theaters.

Early on, we're introduced to the ragtag band of misfits that have been assembled to stop a dangerous device from falling into the wrong hands, including Georgiou, of course, who's now hiding out in a casino outside of Federation Space with an admittedly gorgeous outfit and headpiece that suits Yeoh to a tee.

She's joined by Omari Hardwick's hardass Alok, Robert Kazinsky's himbo in an exo-skeleton and a shape-shifting Chameloid played by Sam Richardson, plus Kacey Rohl as Rachel Garrett, (future captain of the USS Enterprise-C), and Fuzz, a tiny alien living inside an android played by Sven Ruygrok. Sounds interesting on paper, and there are some quirky moments between the agents to enjoy, but the characterisation doesn't delve much deeper beyond that and what we learned upon meeting them at the start. In fact, their limited banter can even grate at points, forcing humour where it doesn't work.

Enjoyment is futile

The only one afforded any considerable depth is Georgiou, "a tyrant who murdered her own people by the millions". Through flashbacks that tie into the present, we come to better understand this somewhat monstrous figure and what drove her to choose this path all those years ago. Yet Craig Sweeny's script doesn't do enough to reckon with the complex morality that motivates Georgiou and also this seedy world we're exposed to beyond her.

It should be thrilling to uncover the underbelly of this universe that's so rarely been given a spotlight in this way before. Because more often than not, the Federation – and Star Trek, as an extension of that — champions a utopian future where the protagonists are by and large united by common goals. That's not to say darkness doesn't exist in Star Trek or even that people always get on, but Section 31 should have provided a unique opportunity to look closer at what the nature of evil looks like in this world – or even just what it's like when all your faves kind of hate each other.

For some, that isn't Star Trek at all, but they'd be wrong. It's disingenuous and just plain wrong to assume everyone vibes in this universe like the gang on the Enterprise do. The problem is that this so-called risk doesn't really pay off here. Much of that is down to the simplicity of Sweeny's scripting which feels like a relic from a bygone era, and unfortunately, that's reinforced by Olatunde Osunsanmi's bland direction and cinematography too.

That impressive opening scene aside, Section 31 feels like a callback to TV fare of yesteryear before prestige filmmaking became more commonplace on the small screen. That's also true of the action sequences, which are nowhere near as visceral as they could be. Even a standout fight early on between Georgiou and an assassin who can vibrate through walls is nothing to sing home about. Yeoh deserves far better, as anyone who's had even a glimpse of her other action roles can attest, although there's still something to be said for seeing a 62 year old woman kick ass in genre fare like this.

Make it stop

Yeoh attempts to bring gravitas to the part with a sly smirk at points, and she does well with the material, as you'd expect, but everything is off a bit, tonally speaking. A surprise development later on gives Yeoh a chance to shine best as the iconic action star we know her to be, but she still deserves better, as do the fans.

Is Section 31 deliberately camp in a knowing sense or is that an unintentional by-product of how some of the more serious moments fall flat? That's not entirely clear, although kudos to the team for placing an Asian protagonist front and center in a genre where that rarely happens still when it comes to Western fare.

Kudos also for trying something new in a franchise that could easily coast by and just repeat the same formula over and over. Instead, Star Trek continues to boldly go where Star Trek has never gone before in stories like this and other notable titles such as Lower Decks.

Let's just hope Section 31 doesn't stick around as long as that beloved animated spin-off did though. The end certainly suggests a sequel might be in store, and Yeoh has previously said she'd be game too, but the real loss here would be developing a follow-up when the money could instead be used for something new, something bolder and better than what Section 31 has to offer.

Star Trek: Section 31 will be available to watch on Paramount Plus on Friday, January 24. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies.