After a long wait and the insistence of a “certain Oscar winner,” Star Trek Section 31 will air exclusively on Paramount+. I can tell you this is what we need right now, between seasons of Strange New Worlds and the anticipated Starfleet Academy series.
To Boldly Georgiuo Where No One Has Gone Before
The film starts in the Mirror Universe, where we glimpse into the Terran Empire culture. In almost a Hunger Games like competition, you earn the title of Emporer. It’s not divine, it’s not by bloodline, it’s kill or be killed! But more so, the ruthlessness has an even more sadistic final test.
Even still Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo’noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius. She still has nightmares of her past and regrets.
She now runs a club outside of Federation space after going MIA from her original Section 31 team we last saw in Star Trek Discovery. Now, with a new universe-ending crisis, an unlikely new team has to RE-recruit her to solve a problem she started in her previous life.
The Story
Section 31 has a very basic setup: a heist and revenge-type story. I don’t think I need to go into this much simply because it follows almost every single trope you’ve come to expect.
It hits all those hallmarks when comparing it to other types of films like Oceans 11, Guardians of the Galaxy, and other campy space adventures. The characters are very much slotted right where they need to be, so you have just enough dynamic interest with the team that it’s something familiar but still somewhat new.
But is Section 31…… TREK?!
Yes, but I will say it is Trek-adjacent. I think that the bold move to make this into a made-for-TV film on Paramount Plus was a wise choice, considering that I don’t think this would have survived as a series without more of a foundation to build on.
We’ve seen a lot of these types of creatures and aliens before, which I always do appreciate having the nods back to other kinds of species in previous Star Trek lore, but introducing some new types and elements at this point in the game can be a little bit on the rough side simply for the fact we have such an established lore already it could throw a tricorder into the matter-antimatter chamber.
Also, knowing that this takes place around the same time as Strange New Worlds does give me a reason to pause. There’s some tech in here that we have never seen before, pushing the envelope of what we were capable of in the TOS era versus Next Gen or anything we’ve seen since.
The art and the film’s style indicate what we’ve seen recently in Strange New Worlds and Discovery. It has these large sets with heavy coloring while trying to be sleek and sexy. Is this where Trek is now? I think it fits as far as this covert operation is concerned, but do I want to see that in any upcoming seasons? No. Would this possibly make a good every once in a while, like knock-out a made-for-a-streaming movie? Yeah, it could work if it’s a bit more polished.
Since this is Paramount’s first foray into a trek film that’s not attached to any particular series, i.e., Kirk or Picard, it’s a lot to take in. It’s an easy and safe investment. The fact that they went with such an atypical story means nothing is wrong with it. Again, you could have taken Trek out of the equation, and it still would have been an OK movie.
As for me adding on the extra layer of “trekness” I think it adds a little bit more to it and a little bit more investment for those of us who are Trek fans. Unfortunately, I believe that the community at large will pan this film simply because it’s not something they were expecting, but I think that it is refreshing to reinvent the Nacelle.
Star Trek: Section 31 is a 7.5 out of 10
This will be a learning opportunity for where Trek wants to go from here on out. I think they’ve got everything down in a serialized format. How do they keep the momentum going for larger format and on the big screen or any other type that’s not necessarily in that 22 to 47-minute episode range?
How about that Cameo at the end?!!?
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