‘Star Trek: Section 31’ Review: Not Even Michelle Yeoh Can Save Paramount+’s Subpar Spinoff Movie

Scientists say that our universe is constantly expanding. But some universes should know when to quit, as evidenced by the first television film (well, technically streaming film) and the fourteenth overall in the venerable Star Trek franchise. Premiering on Paramount+, Star Trek: Section 31 is a spinoff of the series Star Trek: Discovery but mainly seems designed to exploit the talents of Michelle Yeoh, who, since she created the character of Philippa Georgiou, has added the term “Academy Award winner” to her bio.

Helmed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, the film was originally conceived as another series, but Oscar winners tend to have busy schedules. Hence this one-off, although its conclusion makes it obvious that if the fans demand it, we’ll be seeing plenty more of Philippa and the other figures from the titular rogue organization that defends the United Federation of Planets in ways they would prefer not to know about.

I’ll confess to having long lost track of the byzantine chronology of the Star Trek universe, so you’ll have to look elsewhere to find the details of Yeoh’s character, who began as a respected Starfleet captain before shifting to an alternate version as a villainous emperor in the Mirror Universe.

Now she’s back in the Prime Universe, albeit in a different timeline — pay attention, there’ll be a quiz at the end of this review — operating a nightclub in a distant region of the galaxy (it’s good to know that live entertainment continues to thrive even in space). The film begins with a voiceover memo to the members of Section 31, presumably designed to bring the audience up to speed as much as them, featuring the warning about Philippa: “Make no mistake, the dog bites, so watch your backs.”

Philippa feels very much in her element in her club, where her martinis feature raw eyeballs instead of olives. So she’s none too thrilled when approached by the dashing Section 31 leader Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick) and recruited to join them in a secret mission preventing the United Federation of Planets from being attacked by an ultimate weapon. The name of said weapon provides the opportunity for a less than amusing exchange about whether it should be pronounced “Godsend” or “God’s End.”

The other Section 31 members are an eclectic bunch, including Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), who struggles to infuse Starfleet values into the mission (and who was first seen all the way back in Star Trek: The Next Generation); Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok), a Vulcan who’s not really a Vulcan, as evidenced by his emotional volatility and tendency to speak in a very bad Irish accent; Quasi (Sam Richardson), a shapeshifting Chameloid (originally portrayed by Iman in Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home); Mell (Humberly Gonzalez), who joined Section 31 after the Starfleet refused to allow her to employ her natural charms; and Zeph (Rob Kazinsky), who annoyingly delights in the advantages of his mechanical body modifications.

The screenplay by Craig Sweeny struggles mightily to mine humor from the quirky characters with little success, and such plot elements as the revelation that one of the Section 31 members is a mole are similarly underwhelming. So that pretty much leaves the diversion to be found in the numerous action sequences, with Yeoh again demonstrating her trademark fighting skills (albeit here augmented with distracting digital trickery). The actress has such a commanding and darkly amusing screen presence that the pedestrian film can almost, but not quite, be forgiven for letting her down so completely.

Not that she won’t be back, as evidenced by the ending, featuring a cameo from one of Yeoh’s co-stars in Everything Everywhere All at Once, that makes it clear that more films featuring Philippa are all but inevitable.