Section 31 Review – Soft to go where no one should go

On January 23, 2025By Littum

In the nearly 40 years since the one-two punch of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek: The Next Generation ignited my enthusiasm for Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi juggernaut, I’ve seen the franchise through highs (The Dominion War arc on Deep Space Nine, the film First Contact, the ongoing Paramount+ series Strange New Worlds) and lows (Voyager) episode “Threshold”, Enterprise finale, the bleak tedium of Picard’s first season). But with all that, there is one phrase I have never said in response to any movie or show during Trek umbrella – especially since it’s the rallying cry of so many malicious bozos cashing in on internet negativity. But the direct-to-streaming Star Trek movie Section 31 has initiated a core rupture in my soul, and my reaction is simple: “This is not Star Trek.”

Originally conceived as a spin-off series for Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek: Discovery character, Terran Emperor-turned-undercover-Federation-do-gooder Philippa Georgiou, Section 31 arrives on Paramount+ as 100 minutes of generic schlock containing only trace elements of Star Trek. If you were to scrub the tricorder sound effects from the mix, brush out the occasional Delta shield, and cut off its titular black-ops organization’s connection to Starfleet, you’d just think, whoa, this chintzy Syfy movie is definitely copying from The Hunger Games and Guardians of the Galaxy (and the X-Men and The Fifth Element) but knows nothing about being original. Or engaging.

Although it would still be boring, Section 31 might actually be better if you come to it with no knowledge of Star Trek lore. At least this way you won’t end up wondering how writer Craig Sweeny and director Olatunde Osunsanmi completely messed up all of Trek ethos – its admittedly small core owners of exploration, optimism and the pursuit of righteous achievement. (There’s a reason we Star Trek nerds were bullied a lot in junior high school.) Episode 31 is nothing more than a crappy, uninteresting caper picture with mediocre special effects, bad acting (yes, even Yeoh), terrible dialogue, and characters you don’t care about.

I will try to establish the premise as soon as possible, although the boiled down form of section 31 does not make it the easiest task. After flashing back to Philippa’s bloody ascent to the throne of what we used to call the Mirror Universe, we find out where she landed after bailing out of Section 31 in Discovery’s third season: “outside Federation Space,” ran a cosmic Rick’s Cafe American where the main attraction seems to be low lighting and music that sounds like it was produced in 2024. Her previously secretive outfit has been reimagined as an Impossible Mission Force or Charlie’s Angels – with Yeoh’s Everything Everywhere All at Once pal Jamie Lee Curtis, handing out assignments – and somehow the group has tracked down Georgiou and knows that some crook is coming to do an illegal arms deal at her club.

Thus, a ragtag group of wacky, Guardians-esque characters are sent out to intercept and prevent this dangerous development. In addition to the cool guy leader (Omari Hardwick), there’s a quippy shapeshifter (Sam Richardson, who does the best he can with this material and gets out of Section 31 okay), a “I’m the juggernaut, bitch!” type mecha brute (Robert Kazinsky), a sexy Deltan (Humberly Gonzalez) and a crazy Vulcan (Sven Ruygrok) who is actually not a Vulcan, but rather a microscopic organism in a small spaceship inside a Vulcan-shaped Golem body. (Think Men in Black.) When his little ship moves around, it looks and sounds like the flying cars from The Jetsons, which is unintentionally hilarious.

Integrated with this bickering team is an observer from Starfleet, a young woman named Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), who hardcore fans know will grow to be a pre-Picard Captain of the Enterprise. Garrett’s presence, combined with a figure from Georgiou’s past, throws it off when of Section 31 to complete confusion – as if Sweeny threw the nerds a bone by giving us people we kind of recognize but made no attempt to actually fit within a consistent timeline. Worrying about this is the least of your worries, though, because the rest of this movie is so terribly boring.

With Georgiou (who, mind you, viciously murdered thousands, including her parents and little brother) part of the fun new Section 31 gang, we get some hijinks, like a phase-shield fight with the arms smuggler, which was done very cooler in Dune (both versions) and a runaway train-style chase straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but now made to look like CGI slop. There’s also the discovery that someone in the group is a mole – but these are characters we’ve all just met, so there’s absolutely nothing at stake here. Someone whose name you barely know is who they appear to be? Who cares?

Even with the golden opportunity to play interplanetary outlaws, none of the cast (except Richardson) is anything but annoying. However, the blame can be spread around. There is not only unoriginal writing, but completely uninspired direction. When the team all introduce themselves to Georgiou once she’s officially recruited, everyone stops dead in their tracks and barks the backstory at her with an almost defiant lack of pizzazz. These lugubrious deliveries are punctuated by editing that tries to add spice but ends up being unsettling and feels forced. Yeoh is chomping up every moment, which actually worked on Discovery when she was a supporting character played by Sonequa Martin-Green or Anthony Rapp. But when she’s in the middle seat, her dry, haughty tone quickly becomes annoying. The great athleticism in her fight scenes aside, there’s not much that’s likable here.

There’s a lot more fighting, a lot more chasing, and more examples where the writing seems dictated from TikTok three years ago. “You are a Chaos Goblin!” future Captain Garrett is told. “I love it for us,” she replies on a later prompt. Most importantly there is no of the thoughtful elements that make Star Trek so special. It’s not that weird, just a push to expand the IP in a way that landed well with the Paramount suits. I suppose if I were to search for a thesis for Section 31, it’s that being a bloodthirsty tyrant eventually leads to some brief moments of introspection. So noted.

The strangest thing is that this little dead end in Star Trek universe – which I predict almost no one will remember in a year – exists when Lower Decks just finished and Strange New Worlds is ready for its next season. These are two shows that understand on a molecular level the joy and specificity of Star Trek. The franchise is still alive.

As such, it is best to just consider Section 31 an aberration and move on. If I’ve learned anything from Starfleet, it’s to be positive. I simply send a warning buoy to all other ships to avoid this area of space and warp from here.

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