Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Section 31.

Star Trek’s first made-for-streaming movie, Star Trek: Section 31, has been met with mostly negative reviews from fans and critics. After departing Star Trek: Discovery in season 3, Michelle Yeoh returns as Emperor Philippa Georgiou in Section 31, which takes place in the early 24th century of Star Trek’s “lost era.” After being sent back in time by the Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle), Georgiou ended up in the 24th century and now operates a nightclub. When Starfleet’s black ops intelligence organization learns of a powerful new weapon on the black market, they recruit Georgiou for help.

Star Trek: Section 31 has some fun sci-fi action sequences and introduces interesting new characters to the franchise. While it’s always great to see Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou, Section 31 ultimately fails to deliver a compelling Star Trek story. On popular review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Star Trek: Section 31 currently sits at a 20% score from critics and an even worse 17% score from audiences. This makes Section 31 the worst Star Trek film according to Rotten Tomatoes, just behind Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which has a 23% critics score and a 25% audience score.

Here are the main issues critics and fans have with Star Trek: Section 31.

8

Section 31 Is A Star Trek Movie In Name Only

Section 31 Just Doesn’t Feel Like A Star Trek Movie

Perhaps Star Trek: Section 31’s biggest sin is that it doesn’t feel like a Star Trek movie. Not only is it the first Trek film that doesn’t feature the USS Enterprise in any way, but it also lacks the heart and humanity Star Trek is famous for. Since the earliest days of Star Trek: The Original Series, the franchise has tackled tough moral questions, offered timely social commentary, and grappled with what it means to be human.

Section 31 feels like any other sci-fi action movie, which isn’t what most viewers want when they sit down to watch Star Trek. As an organization, Section 31 was already a controversial addition to the Star Trek universe, and Section 31 only features one main character who is involved in Starfleet. Not only is Kacey Rohl’s Lt. Rachel Garrett the most “Star Trek” character in the film, she’s also one of the strongest additions to the cast.

7

Star Trek Fans Wanted Other Stories More Than Section 31

Fans Would Have Preferred Star Trek: Legacy

Paramount appears to be struggling when it comes to determining what Star Trek fans actually want to see. While Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Georgiou was one of Star Trek: Discovery’s most popular characters, Section 31 has never been a particularly beloved element of Star Trek. A film set during Star Trek’s “lost era” could have explored numerous characters and events that have been hinted at throughout the franchise. Instead, Section 31’s connections to past Star Trek are tenuous at best, and the film answers very few questions about the early 24th century.

Since the end of Star Trek: Picard season 3, fans have been clamoring for a Star Trek: Legacy spin-off following the adventures of the USS Enterprise-G and Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). This is the story many Star Trek fans want to see onscreen, but Paramount has chosen to focus on other projects. With its Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion, Picard season 3 received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and fans, illustrating the types of Star Trek stories most people want to see.

6

Section 31 Doesn’t Work As An Entry Point For New Star Trek Fans

Section 31 Doesn’t Have The Context To Invite New Viewers Into Star Trek

Unlike J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009), which brought the franchise back to the big screen, Star Trek: Section 31 does not work very well as a way to bring in new Trek fans. For one thing, the film works better if audiences are somewhat familiar with Emperor Georgiou and her character’s journey on Star Trek: Discovery. Beyond that, Section 31 teases a few connections to events and characters in Star Trek’s past, but doesn’t take the time to explain them.

Section 31 Alpha Team leader Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick), reveals that he fought in the Eugenics Wars and was later genetically enhanced. Star Trek‘s timeline for the Eugenics Wars has gotten complicated over the years, but the events Alok mentions were first referenced on Star Trek: The Original Series in relation to Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán). Not only does Alok’s backstory have very little bearing on Section 31’s plot, but it also has little meaning without the context of past Trek.

5

Section 31’s Big Cast Lacks Character Development

Section 31 Characters, We Hardly Knew Ye

Star Trek: Section 31 introduces a team of six new characters, which is too many for viewers to get to know well, especially considering the film’s less than two-hour runtime. None of Section 31′s new characters get more than surface-level development, robbing any betrayals and character deaths in Section 31 from having the emotional impact they should. The Deltan Melle (Humberly González) suffers the most from this lack of development, as she has a lot of potential as a character, but is killed off far too quickly.

Robert Kazinsky’s Zeph suffers a similar fate, mostly serving as comic relief before his death. While the idea of a microscopic being piloting a robot body is an interesting one, Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok) never quite works as a character, either. Sam Richardson’s Quasi is fun, and thankfully survives to the end, but the film reveals very little about him or his Chameloid species. Most of these new characters are actually interesting, making their lack of development a major disappointment.

4

Section 31 Has A Boring Star Trek Story

Star Trek Can Do Far Better Than This

Despite its quick pace and spy thriller premise, Star Trek: Section 31 doesn’t tell a particularly engaging story. From the beginning, the film’s plot is predictable, with none of the supposed reveals coming across as shocking. The whole movie is a standard action movie that is simply checking off boxes as it moves along. Star Trek is capable of far more than the dreary story presented in Section 31, making the whole experience that much more disappointing.

While Section 31 has some fun moments, they never quite coalesce into an exciting story. Throughout its nearly 60-year history, Star Trek has told numerous stories following a group of characters racing to stop a dangerous weapon. And while Section 31 embraces a different tone than most Star Trek, it doesn’t do anything particularly original with its story. While a derivative plot can be fine if the story builds strong connections to its characters, Section 31 doesn’t do that well, either.

3

Section 31 Began Life As A TV Series & You Can Tell

Section 31 Feels Pieced Together

The idea for a Star Trek project starring Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Georgiou originally began as a television series, but these plans were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Star Trek: Section 31 presumably incorporates many elements from the proposed television series, although this has not been confirmed. In many ways, Section 31 feels more like a two-part television series pilot than a feature film.

In other ways, elements of the story feel disjointed and would have worked better if they had been spread out over several episodes. A series would have allowed more time to be spent developing Georgiou’s history with San (James Hiroyuki Liao), for example, making his villain reveal have more impact. More time could have been spent developing the characters as well, which would have given their deaths more weight.

2

Section 31 Doesn’t Know What Kind Of Movie It Is

Section 31 Is A Messy Mash-Up Of Ideas

Star Trek: Section 31 has been pitched as Guardians of the Galaxy meets Mission: Impossible, but it doesn’t quite live up to either comparison. Section 31 lacks the heart and lovable characters of Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as the intense action, spy work, and shocking twists of the Mission: Impossible franchise. With its morally questionable “heroes,” Section 31 also has elements of Suicide Squad, but the film never settles on its own idenтιтy.

Section 31 tries to incorporate too many disparate elements, ultimately forgetting that it’s supposed to be, first and foremost, a Star Trek movie. With Alok and Georgiou’s dark backstories, Section 31 dips into more serious territory, but undercuts it with humorous characters like Fuzz and Zeph. From an inconsistent tone to an unclear message, Section 31 never decides what kind of film it wants to be and its story suffers for it.

1

Section 31 Wastes Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek Comeback

Michelle Yeoh Deserves Better Than Section 31

Having earned an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, Michelle Yeoh is undoubtedly an incredibly talented actress. Yeoh makes Georgiou the best thing about Star Trek: Section 31, but the film feels like a wasted opportunity. Yeoh has proven numerous times that she’s more than capable of leading a film, but the overly stuffed cast and jumbled plot of Section 31 do her no favors. While Michelle Yeoh appears to be having fun, many of her other roles have proven what she is capable of.

Emperor Georgiou had a fascinating journey on Star Trek: Discovery, and the character deserved to return. But Yeoh’s long awaited comeback should have been so much more than what we got in Section 31. Georgiou’s Star Trek reemergence should have gone deeper and focused more on exploring her character’s growth and ever-changing motivations. It remains to be seen whether Section 31 will get a sequel, or whether Georgiou will remain in Star Trek limbo. Star Trek: Section 31 has its moments, but the film ultimately feels hollow and left most fans and critics wanting more.