Spoilers STAR TREK: SECTION 31 - Grading & Discussion

[Lord Garth]

The quadrant-threatening WMD only closed the passageway, no further damage? Or did that cripple the Empire?
Garrett is a Lt Cdr at the end.
Quasi as Alok has dark eyes, and hers are yellow again
Fuzz has a wife Wisp who uses the same robot with different hair
I did not hear any Klingon music though.

It was ok, not terrible, but also not amazing. The dialog was forgettable, the story not very interesting, but the visuals and camerawork were not as bad as most reviews said. Only the floating platform fight was too blurry and boring. The costumes were great, especially her shark mouth diamond dress at the end. Did not like the new Antedian look, but the Cheron and the Andorian were nice. Was excited to see the smuggler ship and then sad to not see more . Nanokins are a fresh, creative idea, and I liked that design as well. Alok's story could've been interesting, but didn't even matter much (how can an Augment turn non-augmented people into Augments?). Tortue was a little on the nose... or in the nose... but none of the fights were severely overdone, as many reviews said. Nice LCARS and a great looking Terran ship! I actually want a sequel on Turkana IV now

You ending up liking it better than I did. If you told me that in 2019, I never would've believed you!

 

[Lord Garth]

For a much better take on this set up, track down the DC Comics "Mirror Universe Saga" set in between TSFS and TVH (yes, I know... but they pull it off).

Got it for a Christmas Present when I was 16. Loved it! I still have it somewhere.

 

[NCC-73515]

For a much better take on this set up, track down the DC Comics "Mirror Universe Saga" set in between TSFS and TVH (yes, I know... but they pull it off).

I thought of that as well when they wanted to bring a Terran fleet across to invade

You ending up liking it better than I did. If you told me that in 2019, I never would've believed you!

Why?
I expected it to be worse based on the many negative reviews. Gave it a 4 here
Not sure where I would place it, but on a vaguely similar level as TFF, NEM, ID. Hard to say where exactly in relation to those, but among the 4 worst out of 14.

 

[donners22]

I'm saddened but unsurprised by the initial reaction. It felt like a "Let's find some way to use Yeoh" project from the outset, with nothing of substance behind it.

Oh well, being dumb fun still puts it above quite a few of the first 10 films, so I'll get to it eventually.

 

[NCC-73515]

She summarized it pretty well right there

 

[Yistaan]

Just saw it. This wasn't really as bad as the reviews were saying and people were predicting. It's certainly no masterpiece, but just general mindless insanity that you could find worse ways of spending 90 minutes on. I honestly found the few episodes of Lower Decks I sat through (I skipped most of the show honestly because I thought it was terrible) more grating than this.

It actually held together until the reveal of the main villain, at which point it went down fast. Not only was his relationship with Georgiou unbelievable but

Spoiler

It's not clear how he lived as long as he did. Furthermore, he seemed to want a more benevolent Terran Empire, yet Mirror Spock was not even mentioned and by this time Mirror Spock's failed attempts at reforms should have long since passed.

Also how did that Eugenics War survivor get reawakened? Was he one of the augments in Space Seed? If so the only thing I can think of was that he split with Khan sometime before ST2, didn't hijack the Reliant with Khan, and was somehow rescued along with the Reliant's crew from Ceti Alpha 5 and joined Section 31.

 

[NCC-73515]

Good point about the Terran situation between Mirror Mirror and DS9, it's all not very clear

They said he was not an augment, but turned into one by one, which does not make much sense. Perhaps you could inject people like Archer was and augment them that way
And I took it as him sleeping all the way through Space Seed and WoK

 

[Yistaan]

inject people like Archer was and augment them that way

I believe this is how Julian Bashir was augmented, as his parents got frustrated that he had what seemed to be learning disabilities as a child.

 

[JoeZhang]

Was this an original script repurposed for Trek? It has that feel.

 

[NCC-73515]

I believe this is how Julian Bashir was augmented, as his parents got frustrated that he had what seemed to be learning disabilities as a child.

True, that could be

Was this an original script repurposed for Trek? It has that feel.

It seems to be 3 episode scripts smashed together

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Was this an original script repurposed for Trek? It has that feel.

If the interviews with the filmmakers are accurate it’s basically an entire season worth distilled to a feature film.

 

[F. King Daniel]

HAPPY SECTION 31 DAY, EVERYONE!

 

[Danlav05]

Cheap, isn’t it?

Like 90s video game cutscenes (watching with a grin though)

 

[NCC-73515]

But the space scenes at the end looked stunning.
It was a bit of a waste of time, but a somewhat entertaining one.

 

[LtChange]

Well I watched it. Good continuation to the Georgiou story, but as many say not Star Trek enough the whole concept. They went too much into the fun action scifi territory and not enough in the Star Trek direction. They wanted something else and we got something else, but too far of a jump for that something else. Watchable and fun, but not Star Trek enough. And they should have really make only some small adjustments to be more Star Trek like with a 10-15 minute expansion, like give us some real moral dilemma about Section 31, maybe show Garrett getting the task on Enterprise B/C from some semi-familiar characters, talking about the grey zone S31 is operating in, and some after credits about Garret's report and it would have been much better, because my biggest problem is that they didn't connected it to the larger Star Trek Universe ...

 

[Michael]

Managed to watch the first half hour or so on my phone this morning before work (which isn’t ideal, but I couldn’t help myself) and what can I say … I actually don’t hate it so far, to be honest. I think this is a case of me really buying into the idea that this would be the worst thing ever, so I was kinda primed on not liking it, but the stuff I’ve seen so far didn’t strike me as totally unentertaining. The music in the Terran Empire flashbacks felt powerful, and while the cinematography and staging never rises above what they did on Discovery to look more like an actual big budget movie, it does look rather slick. Dialog is corny as hell, as expected, but the ensemble kind of leans into it to chew every scene, which is kinda fun. Sad to see Melle die so early, because they seemed like an interesting character. And the real Fuzz looks kinda cute, don’t they?

Looking forward to watch the whole thing with my wife later tonight.

 

[NCC-73515]

The only noteworthy thing they gave Melle is a Basic Instinct moment

 

[Michael]

The only noteworthy thing they gave Melle is a Basic Instinct moment

I don’t know, I liked how she commented on everyone’s introductions in a snappy tone a couple of scenes earlier. Sounded like she was the most sensible one, actually.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I just finished watching it and it's ok. There's a lot of things that work and a lot of things that don't.

What worked for me was the characters, the performances and the flashbacks to Georgiou's past. The characters are likeable and there's some genuinely funny moments. The cast I think played off each other well and all had great chemistry. The overall idea of the Godsend and a terran invasion of the prime universe were great.

What didn't work was the fact that this is a series shoehorned into a 90 minute film. As a result character motivations come out of thin air. We don't really get a chance to bond with characters so the betrayal and also the blossoming friendships fall flat. Also, there's a bit too much telling instead of showing and the villain feels tacked on despite his relationship to Georgiou. The Terran invasion ends up feeling like an afterthought and a scene showing the Terran fleet amassing on the other side of the anomaly to add some stakes wouldn't have hurt. I also feel that the characters being a part of Section 31 doesn't really work. And I think this would have worked better if Rachel Garrett had been working for Starfleet Intelligence and did the recruiting or perhaps they could have all been a group of failed Starfleet officers looking to make things right.

Ultimately though, this should have remained a series. I think the reception overall would have been better, if we'd had time to get to know the characters, follow them on individual arcs and then watch them come together in the end to save the Federation. However, i think in time Section 31 will be viewed as a guilty pleasure.

While it's far from perfect it's still fucking miles ahead of Insurrection. I give it a 6.


Those are my initial thoughts but i'll probably have more.

 

[ananta]

Haven’t watched it yet. I will later (assuming i have electricity; big storm heading in here in UK). Not expecting much.

I see the promo picture on P+ app—you can barely see the words “Star Trek”, which are tucked away in the letter “I” of Section 31. What we have is a picture of Michelle and the words “Brand New Movie with Michelle Yeoh.”

This confirms what I’ve always thought. This project isn’t for Star Trek fans, unless they happened to be DSC/Georgiou fans. It’s really to use Michelle’s celebrity to pull in new viewers; specifically action fans and people keen to see if this has any shades of Everything Everywhere All At Once. While they obviously hoped the fans would find something to enjoy, I think their primary goal is recruiting new viewers. Which is understandable; although the scathing reviews won’t help in that regard…