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WhatMichelle Yeohoffers as a star, on the surface, is exactly whatStar Trekneeds.
After her Oscar win, Paramount clearly cant afford her for an entireStar Trekseries.
So were left withSection 31, aStar Trek: Discoveryspinoff film currentlystreaming on Paramount+.
It is sloppy, misguided, and frankly rote, overstuffed with concepts that it only superficially explores.
Yeoh has the juice, but the film doesnt.
Despite its mere 80-minute run time,it took me days to finish.
The concept of Section 31 was sprinkled into the later seasons.
Deep Space Nineintroduced a darkened, complex morality toStar Trek,including through the introduction of Section 31.
But the film cant help but invite comparisons while also bringing up a number of important questions.
Namely, who the hell is this movie for?
For all her prowess, Yeoh hasnt been able to make the character Philippa Georgiou work.
She does what her peer, San, a childhood friend and lover, cannot.
His dialogue explicitly states the films thematic intentions, Do you believe in fate?
The past always catches up to you.
The bioweapon causes a chain reaction, demolishing planets and wiping out an entire quadrant in space.
But each effort is half-hearted and poorly formed outside of Yeoh herself.
Now lets cut the shit.
What is Section 31 doing in my space station?
Georgiou asks, forcing Alok to drop his drug-dealing cover.
The redemption plot is, at best, questionable.
How can a story justify that approach to a character whose violence reaches a body count in the millions?
Nothing is serviced by this approach least of all Yeoh.
But the film adopts a visual slickness that renders it anonymous.
Few franchises better exemplify the failures of modern Hollywoods dwindling imagination thanStar Trek.
Yes, franchises must change so you can survive.
But do they have to become so dumb?
