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Spoilers Michelle Yeoh & S31 (Re-)Watch Theead
- Thread starter Lord Garth
- Start date
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005)
I watched this movie when it first came out but didn't remember it that well. For this re-watch, when I saw the runtime, I thought it might be a slog to get through, especially since it was getting late and I was getting tired. But no. I barely noticed the as the two-and-a-half hours flew by and I was glued to the film, watching it on the projector in my living room.
This film is based on a 1997 novel written by Arthur Golden and directed by Rob Marshall. Zhang Yihi plays the Geisha -- her name is Chiyo -- and it also stars Ken Watanabe and, of course, Michelle Yeoh. The story spans from 1929 until the mid-1940s, just after World War II. Chiyo is initially a servant, who's discovered by Ken Watanabe's character and arranges for Michelle Yeoh's character to take her under her wing.
Geishas are entertainers, performers, and go through great pains to achieve their beauty. Their lives are completely private. They're also virgins. Untouched. This becomes a problem when one man sexually assaults Chiyo and, later on, another actually has intercourse with her.
Michelle Yeoh's role as a mentor is a supporting role but she's extremely effective at being both a maternal figure and someone who can mold Chiyo from a servant to a geisha. This is a purely dramatic role for Michelle Yeoh, no action, no martial arts, or anything of the sort.
The recreation of Japan in the '20s, '30s, and '40s looks nothing short of amazing. From the houses to the buildings, to the general locales, and the general landscapes. Seeing drawn carriages in the beginning, with only a few cars, and then cars becoming more prominent. It's shown how Chiyo and everyone else copes with World War II, and then -- when she re-locates -- we see Post-War America, which also very well put together and gives the end of the film a visually distinct look from the beginning.
Even though this movie held my attention throughout and captivated me, a warning that this movie is a slow-burn. But if you don't mind slow-burn period pieces depicting a woman as she grows up into becoming an entertainer and the pitfalls it entails, then I recommend it. You're in for a treat. I'll re-watch this again at some point, just for the Hell of it, and much sooner than 20 years' this time.
Next up is Sunshine!
I watched this movie when it first came out but didn't remember it that well. For this re-watch, when I saw the runtime, I thought it might be a slog to get through, especially since it was getting late and I was getting tired. But no. I barely noticed the as the two-and-a-half hours flew by and I was glued to the film, watching it on the projector in my living room.
This film is based on a 1997 novel written by Arthur Golden and directed by Rob Marshall. Zhang Yihi plays the Geisha -- her name is Chiyo -- and it also stars Ken Watanabe and, of course, Michelle Yeoh. The story spans from 1929 until the mid-1940s, just after World War II. Chiyo is initially a servant, who's discovered by Ken Watanabe's character and arranges for Michelle Yeoh's character to take her under her wing.
Geishas are entertainers, performers, and go through great pains to achieve their beauty. Their lives are completely private. They're also virgins. Untouched. This becomes a problem when one man sexually assaults Chiyo and, later on, another actually has intercourse with her.
Michelle Yeoh's role as a mentor is a supporting role but she's extremely effective at being both a maternal figure and someone who can mold Chiyo from a servant to a geisha. This is a purely dramatic role for Michelle Yeoh, no action, no martial arts, or anything of the sort.
The recreation of Japan in the '20s, '30s, and '40s looks nothing short of amazing. From the houses to the buildings, to the general locales, and the general landscapes. Seeing drawn carriages in the beginning, with only a few cars, and then cars becoming more prominent. It's shown how Chiyo and everyone else copes with World War II, and then -- when she re-locates -- we see Post-War America, which also very well put together and gives the end of the film a visually distinct look from the beginning.
Even though this movie held my attention throughout and captivated me, a warning that this movie is a slow-burn. But if you don't mind slow-burn period pieces depicting a woman as she grows up into becoming an entertainer and the pitfalls it entails, then I recommend it. You're in for a treat. I'll re-watch this again at some point, just for the Hell of it, and much sooner than 20 years' this time.
Next up is Sunshine!
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There's a reason the woman won the Oscar. -.-
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"Sunshine" (2007)
Making progress. I'm up to the teal-and-orange film era. This was the first movie I ever saw on Blu-Ray, when I got a Blu-Ray player in 2008. Up until now, I'd only seen this movie once. And now I remember why. Sunshine is a movie I wanted to like more than I did.
It's about a ship, the Icarus 2, that's supposed to create a star within our Sun to reignite it and save life on Earth. Doesn't sound very sound, but I'll go with it. But it's not enough for this to be a space movie. It has to be a space horror movie, and suffers from the same problem as Event Horizon. Both films go off the rails once they descend into horror. The Alien movies are the only ones I've seen that can pull it off. Sunshine sure can't.
The Icarus 2 encounters the Icarus 1, where the crew died and the ship was lost seven years earlier. The Icarus 2 crew stupidly vote to go to Icarus 1 and double their chances of being able to create a star within the Sun by using Icarus 1 as a backup if they have to. Except something goes wrong and now they have to use Icarus 1. But there's a survivor on Icarus 1 who went insane and thinks he's doing God's work by killing everyone and letting the Sun die. From there, it goes into a bunch of craziness that I can't make sense of but, in the end, the star is created within the Sun, reigniting the Sun and giving hope for the future of life on Earth. The End.
Michelle Yeoh's character is a crewmember of the Icarus 2. She doesn't get to do that much, but this is the first time, chronologically, I've seen her in a space movie. So she probably leaped at the chance to do Star Trek: Discovery a decade later because either version of Georgiou is a far meatier role than the role she plays here. Speaking strictly within the space-genre, just to be clear. But nice to see her as a scientist here, nonetheless.
Jason Isaacs was in Event Horizon and Michelle Yeoh was in Sunshine, so that means both Captains of the first season of Discovery were in a space movie prior to Disco. Interesting piece of trivia.
Unlike with Memoirs of a Geisha, I don't think I'll watch Sunshine again.
NEXT UP: Back to Discovery, with "Terra Firma"!
Only because of the name of the movie, I have to play this song from 1983 by Katrina & the Waves... I'm Walking on Sunshine!
Making progress. I'm up to the teal-and-orange film era. This was the first movie I ever saw on Blu-Ray, when I got a Blu-Ray player in 2008. Up until now, I'd only seen this movie once. And now I remember why. Sunshine is a movie I wanted to like more than I did.
It's about a ship, the Icarus 2, that's supposed to create a star within our Sun to reignite it and save life on Earth. Doesn't sound very sound, but I'll go with it. But it's not enough for this to be a space movie. It has to be a space horror movie, and suffers from the same problem as Event Horizon. Both films go off the rails once they descend into horror. The Alien movies are the only ones I've seen that can pull it off. Sunshine sure can't.
The Icarus 2 encounters the Icarus 1, where the crew died and the ship was lost seven years earlier. The Icarus 2 crew stupidly vote to go to Icarus 1 and double their chances of being able to create a star within the Sun by using Icarus 1 as a backup if they have to. Except something goes wrong and now they have to use Icarus 1. But there's a survivor on Icarus 1 who went insane and thinks he's doing God's work by killing everyone and letting the Sun die. From there, it goes into a bunch of craziness that I can't make sense of but, in the end, the star is created within the Sun, reigniting the Sun and giving hope for the future of life on Earth. The End.
Michelle Yeoh's character is a crewmember of the Icarus 2. She doesn't get to do that much, but this is the first time, chronologically, I've seen her in a space movie. So she probably leaped at the chance to do Star Trek: Discovery a decade later because either version of Georgiou is a far meatier role than the role she plays here. Speaking strictly within the space-genre, just to be clear. But nice to see her as a scientist here, nonetheless.
Jason Isaacs was in Event Horizon and Michelle Yeoh was in Sunshine, so that means both Captains of the first season of Discovery were in a space movie prior to Disco. Interesting piece of trivia.
Unlike with Memoirs of a Geisha, I don't think I'll watch Sunshine again.
NEXT UP: Back to Discovery, with "Terra Firma"!
Only because of the name of the movie, I have to play this song from 1983 by Katrina & the Waves... I'm Walking on Sunshine!
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Yeah. This re-watch of mine is the ultimate "it's more about the journey than the destination" because I was extremely disappointed by the destination. It hit me harder than a lot of other people here, being such a Discovery Fan.
But, like @Ray Hardgrit said, I used a bad movie as an excuse to watch good movies. So, luckily, I don't consider it time wasted. It's kind of like making lemonade from a lemon.
Almost three months later, I'm wrapping this thing up once and for all this week. I re-watched "Terra Firma" at some point during the last three months, but I can't remember when.
"Terra Firma" (DSC) -- Parts I & II
Interesting to see Georgiou trying to find a way to save Mirror Burnham and to try to make her become better. Emphasis on try. This Burnham only understood violence. Georgiou's time in the Prime Universe showed her what Burnham could be, and to see Mirror Burnham here made Georgiou see wasted potential.
When everyone picks up on Georgiou not wanting to eat Kelpian, it felt kind of like watching a vegan go into a steakhouse and looking at everyone react to her.
She can't live in the Mirror Universe again and she can't stay in Future Disco Time, so Carl a.k.a. The Guardian of Forever sends her back to the early-24th Century where we see her in Section 31.
Carl reminds me of someone who would've fit right in on Doctor Who. Granted, I've only seen the first seven modern seasons and a handful of episodes from Tom Baker's time in the '70s, but he gives a Doctor vibe.
Before Georgiou departs for the Lost Era, she briefly mentions San, so that was a seed that was planted to be picked up in Section 31. Before Georgiou leaves, I like her seeing potential in Prime Burnham that even she hasn't realized and, unlike Mirror Burnham, Prime Burnham will actually listen. Georgiou tells Burnham that she can be a Captain as well and should aim for that. Foreshadowing the end of the season.
Great to finally see Killy in the flesh. The Mirror Disco Crew are always fun to watch. At least for me. And that's all I have to say.
EDITED TO ADD: Except that in the second season of DSC, very few people knew Georgiou was from the Mirror Universe. In the third season, everyone seemed to know. Either the writing staff forgot, the characters learned off-screen after the jump to The Future, or a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
Other Michelle Yeoh stuff I intended to watch:
"The Lady" (2011) --> It's on Tubi, but I couldn't get through the first half-hour. Not a good sign. Michelle Yeoh's character is both a mother and a hero (no, not a superhero), it moves slow, there's some family drama that bored me, and all of that combined made me drag my feet watching it with even the first half hour! Forget about the rest. So, I shut it off.
"Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) --> I haven't seen it yet. I'll watch it this week.
"Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" (2022) --> I saw this movie about two years ago. I'll give it a re-watch this week. I thought it was extremely quirky. I liked the reality-bending. I won't lie, though, it was cornier than I would've expected. Weird is the best way I'd describe it. Shout out to Jamie Lee Curtis!
I'll stitch together my thoughts about Section 31 from the S31 Forum (now that it's been over six months), maybe add some additional thoughts and then that'll be it. I'll call it a wrap.
"Terra Firma" (DSC) -- Parts I & II
Interesting to see Georgiou trying to find a way to save Mirror Burnham and to try to make her become better. Emphasis on try. This Burnham only understood violence. Georgiou's time in the Prime Universe showed her what Burnham could be, and to see Mirror Burnham here made Georgiou see wasted potential.
When everyone picks up on Georgiou not wanting to eat Kelpian, it felt kind of like watching a vegan go into a steakhouse and looking at everyone react to her.
She can't live in the Mirror Universe again and she can't stay in Future Disco Time, so Carl a.k.a. The Guardian of Forever sends her back to the early-24th Century where we see her in Section 31.
Carl reminds me of someone who would've fit right in on Doctor Who. Granted, I've only seen the first seven modern seasons and a handful of episodes from Tom Baker's time in the '70s, but he gives a Doctor vibe.
Before Georgiou departs for the Lost Era, she briefly mentions San, so that was a seed that was planted to be picked up in Section 31. Before Georgiou leaves, I like her seeing potential in Prime Burnham that even she hasn't realized and, unlike Mirror Burnham, Prime Burnham will actually listen. Georgiou tells Burnham that she can be a Captain as well and should aim for that. Foreshadowing the end of the season.
Great to finally see Killy in the flesh. The Mirror Disco Crew are always fun to watch. At least for me. And that's all I have to say.
EDITED TO ADD: Except that in the second season of DSC, very few people knew Georgiou was from the Mirror Universe. In the third season, everyone seemed to know. Either the writing staff forgot, the characters learned off-screen after the jump to The Future, or a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
Other Michelle Yeoh stuff I intended to watch:
"The Lady" (2011) --> It's on Tubi, but I couldn't get through the first half-hour. Not a good sign. Michelle Yeoh's character is both a mother and a hero (no, not a superhero), it moves slow, there's some family drama that bored me, and all of that combined made me drag my feet watching it with even the first half hour! Forget about the rest. So, I shut it off.
"Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) --> I haven't seen it yet. I'll watch it this week.
"Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" (2022) --> I saw this movie about two years ago. I'll give it a re-watch this week. I thought it was extremely quirky. I liked the reality-bending. I won't lie, though, it was cornier than I would've expected. Weird is the best way I'd describe it. Shout out to Jamie Lee Curtis!
I'll stitch together my thoughts about Section 31 from the S31 Forum (now that it's been over six months), maybe add some additional thoughts and then that'll be it. I'll call it a wrap.
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"Crazy Rich Asians" (2018)
I finally just watched this! Getting into the Michelle Yeoh films a lot more people have seen. This is love story. The young man is from a ridiculously wealthy old-money Chinese family that's stayed culturally Chinese despite living in the United States. The young money is also Chinese but is fully Americanized and grew up in a one-family household with her mother, who's new-money and pulled herself up by the bootstraps.
Michelle Yeoh plays the young man's mother, and she doesn't care that his girlfriend is an Economics Professor. She doesn't approve of her background, doesn't approve of her embracing American. She tells her son's girlfriend that she'll never be enough. In essence, Michelle Yeoh is the antagonist. The barrier. Michelle Yeoh's character is all-powerful within her world, is quick to judge, and has a sharp tongue with anyone she doesn't like. So, in this sense, her character is a lot like Georgiou.
No need to go into the rest of the story. If you've seen it, you know it. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. I won't say what the ending is, but I will say everyone is true to their respective characters.
Because they're all rich, Crazy Rich Asians, the residences look extravagant, the fashion is high-class, the overall feeling is high-society, and there's some great cinematography.
NEXT UP: "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once"
I finally just watched this! Getting into the Michelle Yeoh films a lot more people have seen. This is love story. The young man is from a ridiculously wealthy old-money Chinese family that's stayed culturally Chinese despite living in the United States. The young money is also Chinese but is fully Americanized and grew up in a one-family household with her mother, who's new-money and pulled herself up by the bootstraps.
Michelle Yeoh plays the young man's mother, and she doesn't care that his girlfriend is an Economics Professor. She doesn't approve of her background, doesn't approve of her embracing American. She tells her son's girlfriend that she'll never be enough. In essence, Michelle Yeoh is the antagonist. The barrier. Michelle Yeoh's character is all-powerful within her world, is quick to judge, and has a sharp tongue with anyone she doesn't like. So, in this sense, her character is a lot like Georgiou.
No need to go into the rest of the story. If you've seen it, you know it. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. I won't say what the ending is, but I will say everyone is true to their respective characters.
Because they're all rich, Crazy Rich Asians, the residences look extravagant, the fashion is high-class, the overall feeling is high-society, and there's some great cinematography.
NEXT UP: "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once"
he's not opposed to revisiting old projects. He still wants to come back and finish "The OA" but I suspect we'll never meet Prime Lorca.
Finishing this off. Weird as this sounds, it feels like "the last day of school" if that makes any sense. I'm going to finish off big. First a review of The Lady, a re-post my thoughts about Event Horizon from 2023 (why not?), and then a review of Everything, Everywhere, All at Once after having just re-watched it.
So, if you just want to see my take on Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, just scroll all the way down until you see it.
"The Lady" (2011)
I finally actually did decide to watch the rest of Michelle Yeoh's The Lady on TubiTV, and I'm glad. Yes, it had a slow start but, once it got going, and I figured out where it was going, I stuck around for the rest. Michelle Yeoh's character is living in Burma, where the character was originally born, while her husband and two sons were born in the UK. When she visits Burma again to encourage reform it and turn it into a democracy, she can't leave and is placed under house arrest. This puts a strain on both her and her family, but she endures it.
In the events leading up to her house arrest, the military tries to make her stop fighting for change, anything they can do short of making her a martyr. Michelle Yeoh's character isn't afraid of the threats, she's not afraid the people who look like they might kill her, she's not afraid of whoever would try to put her in prison. That's true courage. She has more courage than the people who try to stop her would without their power. Truly inspirational to watch. She'll do what's right regardless of what anyone else will say. Including small-minded dictators and their thugs.
This story covers many years but mostly takes place in the early-'90s with the '00s as a framing device. I won't spoil anything further. What's not a spoiler is that eventually Burma is renamed to Myanmar and democracy finally does arrive. If you don't mind a slow burn, and you're interested in a movie with something to say, then I recommend watching it.
Cutting at pasting my thoughts about Event Horizon from October 19th, 2023 with some very light editing -- for easier readability -- since I'm consolidating three posts from back then over here, I was posting in real time as I was reacting, and one of those posts was in response to someone else.
"Event Horizon" (1997)
Right now I'm watching Event Horizon, which is something you'd think I'd have seen by now -- it came out in 1997, is a space movie, had some horror elements, and I was the right age for it -- so I would've been all over it back then. But it slipped through the cracks. So I'm giving this movie a 25-plus-year overdue look. Jason Isaacs is in it, though he's only a supporting role, but I get a kick out of seeing him 20 years younger than he was in DSC, and with his native accent. The film looks like it wanted to be Alien except with a different horror story. Right down to the set design, the crew, and the weird phenomena they get sucked into.
As soon as Sam Neill's character said, "I am home," something tells me -- without knowing anything else about it -- that should've been the midpoint of the movie. Yet there are only 30 minutes left. They didn't just make it under two hours, it's 95 minutes. They probably cut out WAY more than was necessary. It helps going in knowing it isn't going to be that good from here on out. And probably also explains why no one's ever told me in all this time, "You have to see this!!!!"
As soon as Not-Lorca died (spoiler!), this movie turned to shit. No-Eyes Alan Grant on the loose! [At the 20 minutes left mark], I can't take this thing seriously anymore. Oh God. It just kept getting worse and worse and worse during those last 20 minutes. But the credits have finally started rolling. Well, I won't be watching that again.
And now for the last thing I'm (re-)watching before delving into Section 31. We're here! You guessed! My review of the award-winning film...
.
.
.
"Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" (2022)
This movie was produced by A24 and is very bizarre, quirky, and off-the-wall. Not to mention Michelle Yeoh's character is the Chosen One who can travel between realities and her husband in one reality wants to divorce her and in another is like Morpheus from The Matrix and she's like the Neo. In the normal, boring reality, she has a lien on her house, she's talented in many things but isn't able to earn a living off of them, and she's treading to the line between tradition and trying to be tolerant of more American lifestyles, which her daughter has fully embraced.
Jamie Lee Curtis is hilarious as the IRS Auditor thinking Michelle Yeoh's character's shifting back-and-forth between realities is just her not paying attention. In other realities, there's no limit to how crazy Jamie Lee Curtis' character gets. She must've had a lot of fun.
Over the course of the movie, Michelle Yeoh's character ends up going through more realities than a season of Sliders. If you know what I'm talking about, you're my kind of people. If you don't, look up the TV series Sliders. Anyway...
The actor who plays the husband is great at martial arts, humor, seeming normal, and seeming like a leader, depending on the reality. He was a real find.
Then things turn really bizarre. Including dildos being used as weapons. If you know, you know. If you haven't seen it, don't ask! At another point, everyone has hotdog fingers!
Somehow though, Michelle Yeoh is the last line of defense against Total Chaos.
Then things get nuttier and nuttier and nuttier and nuttier, including nuts themselves since the of the characters is fighting with his penis exposed to everyone in the movie but censored for the audience watching.
Then things become even more bizarre than I expected. At one point there's a conversation between literal rocks about how stupid Humans are. Be like a rock.
Overall: I'm going to be brutally honest. This was fun, crazy, and amusing, but also totally fucking ridiculous. I'm both surprised this movie won so many awards but can also see it for it being so far outside the box. I can appreciate what it was trying to do, but this isn't my type of movie. I like outside the box, but I also still prefer more structure even when it deviates for the norm.
.
.
.
NEXT UP: The end of this Watch/Re-Watch. Section 31.
So, if you just want to see my take on Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, just scroll all the way down until you see it.
"The Lady" (2011)
I finally actually did decide to watch the rest of Michelle Yeoh's The Lady on TubiTV, and I'm glad. Yes, it had a slow start but, once it got going, and I figured out where it was going, I stuck around for the rest. Michelle Yeoh's character is living in Burma, where the character was originally born, while her husband and two sons were born in the UK. When she visits Burma again to encourage reform it and turn it into a democracy, she can't leave and is placed under house arrest. This puts a strain on both her and her family, but she endures it.
In the events leading up to her house arrest, the military tries to make her stop fighting for change, anything they can do short of making her a martyr. Michelle Yeoh's character isn't afraid of the threats, she's not afraid the people who look like they might kill her, she's not afraid of whoever would try to put her in prison. That's true courage. She has more courage than the people who try to stop her would without their power. Truly inspirational to watch. She'll do what's right regardless of what anyone else will say. Including small-minded dictators and their thugs.
This story covers many years but mostly takes place in the early-'90s with the '00s as a framing device. I won't spoil anything further. What's not a spoiler is that eventually Burma is renamed to Myanmar and democracy finally does arrive. If you don't mind a slow burn, and you're interested in a movie with something to say, then I recommend watching it.
Cutting at pasting my thoughts about Event Horizon from October 19th, 2023 with some very light editing -- for easier readability -- since I'm consolidating three posts from back then over here, I was posting in real time as I was reacting, and one of those posts was in response to someone else.
"Event Horizon" (1997)
Right now I'm watching Event Horizon, which is something you'd think I'd have seen by now -- it came out in 1997, is a space movie, had some horror elements, and I was the right age for it -- so I would've been all over it back then. But it slipped through the cracks. So I'm giving this movie a 25-plus-year overdue look. Jason Isaacs is in it, though he's only a supporting role, but I get a kick out of seeing him 20 years younger than he was in DSC, and with his native accent. The film looks like it wanted to be Alien except with a different horror story. Right down to the set design, the crew, and the weird phenomena they get sucked into.
As soon as Sam Neill's character said, "I am home," something tells me -- without knowing anything else about it -- that should've been the midpoint of the movie. Yet there are only 30 minutes left. They didn't just make it under two hours, it's 95 minutes. They probably cut out WAY more than was necessary. It helps going in knowing it isn't going to be that good from here on out. And probably also explains why no one's ever told me in all this time, "You have to see this!!!!"
As soon as Not-Lorca died (spoiler!), this movie turned to shit. No-Eyes Alan Grant on the loose! [At the 20 minutes left mark], I can't take this thing seriously anymore. Oh God. It just kept getting worse and worse and worse during those last 20 minutes. But the credits have finally started rolling. Well, I won't be watching that again.
And now for the last thing I'm (re-)watching before delving into Section 31. We're here! You guessed! My review of the award-winning film...
.
.
.
"Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" (2022)
This movie was produced by A24 and is very bizarre, quirky, and off-the-wall. Not to mention Michelle Yeoh's character is the Chosen One who can travel between realities and her husband in one reality wants to divorce her and in another is like Morpheus from The Matrix and she's like the Neo. In the normal, boring reality, she has a lien on her house, she's talented in many things but isn't able to earn a living off of them, and she's treading to the line between tradition and trying to be tolerant of more American lifestyles, which her daughter has fully embraced.
Jamie Lee Curtis is hilarious as the IRS Auditor thinking Michelle Yeoh's character's shifting back-and-forth between realities is just her not paying attention. In other realities, there's no limit to how crazy Jamie Lee Curtis' character gets. She must've had a lot of fun.
Over the course of the movie, Michelle Yeoh's character ends up going through more realities than a season of Sliders. If you know what I'm talking about, you're my kind of people. If you don't, look up the TV series Sliders. Anyway...
The actor who plays the husband is great at martial arts, humor, seeming normal, and seeming like a leader, depending on the reality. He was a real find.
Then things turn really bizarre. Including dildos being used as weapons. If you know, you know. If you haven't seen it, don't ask! At another point, everyone has hotdog fingers!
Somehow though, Michelle Yeoh is the last line of defense against Total Chaos.
Then things get nuttier and nuttier and nuttier and nuttier, including nuts themselves since the of the characters is fighting with his penis exposed to everyone in the movie but censored for the audience watching.
Then things become even more bizarre than I expected. At one point there's a conversation between literal rocks about how stupid Humans are. Be like a rock.
Overall: I'm going to be brutally honest. This was fun, crazy, and amusing, but also totally fucking ridiculous. I'm both surprised this movie won so many awards but can also see it for it being so far outside the box. I can appreciate what it was trying to do, but this isn't my type of movie. I like outside the box, but I also still prefer more structure even when it deviates for the norm.
.
.
.
NEXT UP: The end of this Watch/Re-Watch. Section 31.
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I combined together several posts I made in the S31 Sub-Forum for this review. I lightly edited those earlier posts and rearranged them in a way that I felt would be cohesive and flow together. Then I added in a few more thoughts either to fill in some gaps or because something occurred to me later on.
"Star Trek: Section 31" (2025)
I'm a hardcore fan of Discovery, across all seasons, and Georgiou is one of my favorite characters. I've defended the concept of Section 31 since the DS9 days when I was in my late-teens. I like Mission: Impossible, the TV series, not the movies. I've watched and enjoyed a ton of Michelle Yeoh movies. And, like a lot of people, "Yesterday's Enterprise" is one of my favorite episodes of TNG.
Those are my credentials, just so we're clear... and I found Section 31 to be a disappointment.
If you look at "Inquisition" and "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", something in that style is what I wanted. Keep Georgiou, keep Alok, keep Garrett, and keep Quasi, but drop everyone else. Go more into these specific characters. Show more of their backstory and motivations.
Sum up the situation in the 2320s. The Romulans are out of the picture, the Klingons are still recovering, the Cardassians are on the Federation's radar but not a problem yet, have all this in a briefing where they talk about the status quo (and bring the audience up to speed), then shift the focus to what else is going on in the galaxy. Then they're acknowledging, "We can't do anything with the major Alpha Quadrant powers because they're locked into their status quo until TNG, but we can do something with these other races that we don't know anything about!"
So that's the tone I want, the greater emphasis on the characters, and we have the framing of the Lost Era and it looks like a deliberate choice instead of a random one.
Also show that Section 31 and Starfleet are two different sides of the Federation Coin. And address head-on the biggest debate in Star Trek: "Humanity has evolved" vs. "Human nature will never change". Throw in "We have to do what we do so you can do what you do." All of that would've summed up Section 31. This movie didn't go into any of that. They purposely went out of their way to avoid all of it. What I wanted was a movie that has its own specific viewpoint even if someone doesn't agree with it. This movie gave all that up just to be popcorn entertainment.
Despite what I thought of the TV Movie, with different writing, I'd be for it. I think if you kept the same core four cast members, but had a completely different story and different people putting it together... I think a version of Section 31 could've worked. Just not this version. Definitely not this version! There are people who are against the concept of both Section 31 and Georgiou. I'm obviously not one of those people. I'm for the concept, but the problem was the execution.
There had to be a better way to utilize Georgiou and Michelle Yeoh. That having been said, I'm sure she still had a blast making the movie. Michelle Yeoh is a critically acclaimed actress, but she's also someone who likes to do all the action stuff, she likes quirky characters, and stories that are bizarre and go all-out. She also likes stories that challenge norms and puts her in roles that would usually be played by men. Section 31 fits all of that. She can do award-winning movies and does, but she's also not above doing things like S31. I've seen enough of her movies now to know this for a fact. She doesn't like to be bored always doing the same thing.
Alok had potential. A character who grew up in the 20th Century now living in the 24th. Would've been nice to see an episode focused on his backstory.
Garrett was another character with potential. I think she would've been the perfect voice for Starfleet, representing the "we must do what's right" side of the argument while S31 would traditionally say "the ends justify the means". In theory, she'd keep Section 31 aligned with the Federation's ideals instead of going astray if left unchecked.
Quasi works as comic relief but it would've been interesting to see why he was in Section 31. Maybe as a Chameloid, he can sneak around? So maybe someone in Section 31 figured they could use him in covert missions.
I still don't like the Laughing Vulcan with the early-2000s frosted tips. Whenever he opens his mouth, I wish he'd shut up. Fuzz. I just looked up his name. I could take or leave Zeph and Melle.
They had some very sloppy mistakes in here. The age of San, Georgiou's antagonist. 70 years and he looks exactly the same. Either they cut out the explanation or they didn't bother to write it at all. Both are bad.
I don't think it was a problem to have "This ain't your nerd's fucking Star Trek!" That's fine. I get it. But you still need to have good writing, and you still need to avoid sloppy mistakes.
Other things I would say about the writing are they should've cut out the nonsensical jokes that just went on and on and on and on, and then wrote in some more genuine character material. On the substantial side, something more with Alok, something more with Garrett. On the fluffier side, have Melle actually be the femme fatale some more before killing her off.
I still think the Lost Era was the perfect time period to place this. It's when I thought early-DSC should've taken place. 30 years after the last TOS Movie and 40 years before TNG, it's as far away from TOS and TNG as you can get, without having to create an entirely new time period, and it doesn't have to deal with anything going on with either of them. The perfect middle ground that no one's done much with.
Now that I'm over the initial shock I had in January, I can appreciate it more on its own terms. I like it as a guilty pleasure, generic sci-fi action movie that happens to star Michelle Yeoh... BUT that doesn't change the fact that this could've been so much more and would've been, under better hands.
Nevertheless, shout out to the set designs from the ships to Georgiou's establishment. They did a very good job with the set design. Nothing being Starfleet gave them a type of creative freedom with the designs that they wouldn't have had otherwise.
Strangely, I'm more likely to re-watch this again in the future than I am the Kelvin Films because, at the end of the day, I'm a Discovery fan and a Michelle Yeoh fan, whereas I'm not a fan of the Kelvin Films and don't follow any of those actors. It is what it is, and I am what I am.
In this post, I looked at other movies that influenced Section 31. I'll copy-and-paste my thoughts about how to relate to S31 in the Spoiler Box below.
I'm also going to include links to my looking at the structure of Section 31:
And with that, I've now come to the end of this Watch/Re-Watch! It feels so weird to finally be done with it. This was interesting mixing Discovery episodes with Michelle Yeoh films and then finally ending here.
PS: Even though it won't be part of this thread, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 mini-series, which just so happens to also star Michelle Yeoh!
"Star Trek: Section 31" (2025)
I'm a hardcore fan of Discovery, across all seasons, and Georgiou is one of my favorite characters. I've defended the concept of Section 31 since the DS9 days when I was in my late-teens. I like Mission: Impossible, the TV series, not the movies. I've watched and enjoyed a ton of Michelle Yeoh movies. And, like a lot of people, "Yesterday's Enterprise" is one of my favorite episodes of TNG.
Those are my credentials, just so we're clear... and I found Section 31 to be a disappointment.
If you look at "Inquisition" and "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", something in that style is what I wanted. Keep Georgiou, keep Alok, keep Garrett, and keep Quasi, but drop everyone else. Go more into these specific characters. Show more of their backstory and motivations.
Sum up the situation in the 2320s. The Romulans are out of the picture, the Klingons are still recovering, the Cardassians are on the Federation's radar but not a problem yet, have all this in a briefing where they talk about the status quo (and bring the audience up to speed), then shift the focus to what else is going on in the galaxy. Then they're acknowledging, "We can't do anything with the major Alpha Quadrant powers because they're locked into their status quo until TNG, but we can do something with these other races that we don't know anything about!"
So that's the tone I want, the greater emphasis on the characters, and we have the framing of the Lost Era and it looks like a deliberate choice instead of a random one.
Also show that Section 31 and Starfleet are two different sides of the Federation Coin. And address head-on the biggest debate in Star Trek: "Humanity has evolved" vs. "Human nature will never change". Throw in "We have to do what we do so you can do what you do." All of that would've summed up Section 31. This movie didn't go into any of that. They purposely went out of their way to avoid all of it. What I wanted was a movie that has its own specific viewpoint even if someone doesn't agree with it. This movie gave all that up just to be popcorn entertainment.
Despite what I thought of the TV Movie, with different writing, I'd be for it. I think if you kept the same core four cast members, but had a completely different story and different people putting it together... I think a version of Section 31 could've worked. Just not this version. Definitely not this version! There are people who are against the concept of both Section 31 and Georgiou. I'm obviously not one of those people. I'm for the concept, but the problem was the execution.
There had to be a better way to utilize Georgiou and Michelle Yeoh. That having been said, I'm sure she still had a blast making the movie. Michelle Yeoh is a critically acclaimed actress, but she's also someone who likes to do all the action stuff, she likes quirky characters, and stories that are bizarre and go all-out. She also likes stories that challenge norms and puts her in roles that would usually be played by men. Section 31 fits all of that. She can do award-winning movies and does, but she's also not above doing things like S31. I've seen enough of her movies now to know this for a fact. She doesn't like to be bored always doing the same thing.
Alok had potential. A character who grew up in the 20th Century now living in the 24th. Would've been nice to see an episode focused on his backstory.
Garrett was another character with potential. I think she would've been the perfect voice for Starfleet, representing the "we must do what's right" side of the argument while S31 would traditionally say "the ends justify the means". In theory, she'd keep Section 31 aligned with the Federation's ideals instead of going astray if left unchecked.
Quasi works as comic relief but it would've been interesting to see why he was in Section 31. Maybe as a Chameloid, he can sneak around? So maybe someone in Section 31 figured they could use him in covert missions.
I still don't like the Laughing Vulcan with the early-2000s frosted tips. Whenever he opens his mouth, I wish he'd shut up. Fuzz. I just looked up his name. I could take or leave Zeph and Melle.
They had some very sloppy mistakes in here. The age of San, Georgiou's antagonist. 70 years and he looks exactly the same. Either they cut out the explanation or they didn't bother to write it at all. Both are bad.
I don't think it was a problem to have "This ain't your nerd's fucking Star Trek!" That's fine. I get it. But you still need to have good writing, and you still need to avoid sloppy mistakes.
Other things I would say about the writing are they should've cut out the nonsensical jokes that just went on and on and on and on, and then wrote in some more genuine character material. On the substantial side, something more with Alok, something more with Garrett. On the fluffier side, have Melle actually be the femme fatale some more before killing her off.
I still think the Lost Era was the perfect time period to place this. It's when I thought early-DSC should've taken place. 30 years after the last TOS Movie and 40 years before TNG, it's as far away from TOS and TNG as you can get, without having to create an entirely new time period, and it doesn't have to deal with anything going on with either of them. The perfect middle ground that no one's done much with.
Now that I'm over the initial shock I had in January, I can appreciate it more on its own terms. I like it as a guilty pleasure, generic sci-fi action movie that happens to star Michelle Yeoh... BUT that doesn't change the fact that this could've been so much more and would've been, under better hands.
Nevertheless, shout out to the set designs from the ships to Georgiou's establishment. They did a very good job with the set design. Nothing being Starfleet gave them a type of creative freedom with the designs that they wouldn't have had otherwise.
Strangely, I'm more likely to re-watch this again in the future than I am the Kelvin Films because, at the end of the day, I'm a Discovery fan and a Michelle Yeoh fan, whereas I'm not a fan of the Kelvin Films and don't follow any of those actors. It is what it is, and I am what I am.
In this post, I looked at other movies that influenced Section 31. I'll copy-and-paste my thoughts about how to relate to S31 in the Spoiler Box below.
For the Hell of it, I decided to look at the trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy, Mission: Impossible 4, Suicide Squad, and Hunger Games. I don't normally do comic book movies and I've never seen Hunger Games, and I don't want to watch the movies themselves, so I figure the trailers would do to get a feel for what these inspirations for Section 31 are like.
Yeah. I can see how Section 31 is like Guardians of the Galaxy. If this had come out when I was a teenager, I could've seen myself liking it.
Suicide Squad doesn't seem like my type of movie either. BUT what I do like is the government's rationale for using Suicide Squad. If something goes wrong, they can use these members of this team as scapegoats and have plausible deniability. Much like Section 31's relationship with the Federation.
I'd say the idea of Section 31 is closer to Suicide Squad, but the execution is more like Guardians of the Galaxy.
And this has nothing to do with S31, I just have to say it just to say it: Jared Leto looks like he makes for a shit Joker compared to Heath Ledger, Joaquin Pheonix, and Jack Nicholson.
Wow. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol actually looks good. I've seen several episodes of the '60s-'70s TV Series. I saw the first three movies. I didn't like the movies as much as the series, but Ghost Protocol looks like something I might watch for real. High-risk mission, everyone disavowed, and if they fail, they'll be labelled as terrorists. The common theme here between this and Suicide Squad is they need to do what the nation needs them to do or they'll be treated like pariahs or worse.
Yeah. Everyone who said the beginning of Section 31, depicting Georgiou's rise to power, is a rip-off of Hunger Games was right. As far as Hunger Games, this trailer reminds me of whenever I go to the movies, they play the trailers, then I'm bound to see one that makes me think, "That looks interesting! Maybe I'll see it when it comes out," and then I never do.
All of these, even with just watching the trailers, give me more of a sense of what they were trying to go for with Section 31.
Yeah. I can see how Section 31 is like Guardians of the Galaxy. If this had come out when I was a teenager, I could've seen myself liking it.
Suicide Squad doesn't seem like my type of movie either. BUT what I do like is the government's rationale for using Suicide Squad. If something goes wrong, they can use these members of this team as scapegoats and have plausible deniability. Much like Section 31's relationship with the Federation.
I'd say the idea of Section 31 is closer to Suicide Squad, but the execution is more like Guardians of the Galaxy.
And this has nothing to do with S31, I just have to say it just to say it: Jared Leto looks like he makes for a shit Joker compared to Heath Ledger, Joaquin Pheonix, and Jack Nicholson.
Wow. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol actually looks good. I've seen several episodes of the '60s-'70s TV Series. I saw the first three movies. I didn't like the movies as much as the series, but Ghost Protocol looks like something I might watch for real. High-risk mission, everyone disavowed, and if they fail, they'll be labelled as terrorists. The common theme here between this and Suicide Squad is they need to do what the nation needs them to do or they'll be treated like pariahs or worse.
Yeah. Everyone who said the beginning of Section 31, depicting Georgiou's rise to power, is a rip-off of Hunger Games was right. As far as Hunger Games, this trailer reminds me of whenever I go to the movies, they play the trailers, then I'm bound to see one that makes me think, "That looks interesting! Maybe I'll see it when it comes out," and then I never do.
All of these, even with just watching the trailers, give me more of a sense of what they were trying to go for with Section 31.
I'm also going to include links to my looking at the structure of Section 31:
Coded Transmission 1: One Night at Baraam
Coded Transmission 2: The Godsend
Coded Transmission 3: The Passageway
And with that, I've now come to the end of this Watch/Re-Watch! It feels so weird to finally be done with it. This was interesting mixing Discovery episodes with Michelle Yeoh films and then finally ending here.
PS: Even though it won't be part of this thread, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 mini-series, which just so happens to also star Michelle Yeoh!
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I seem to be the only one who found everything after the fantasy elements hit tacky and actively bad — unlike the initial realistic-drama section, which was engaging and, to my mind, the first part of a much better film. Can’t really understand the general adulation, and I had really wanted to like it.
I'd say it was the film version of dadaism, which can be very "love it or hate it" and depends on how it hits people. Which leads do a lot of "This was amazing!" and "What the Hell was that?!" I prefer the first act as well. Though, if the rest of Everything, Everyone, All at Once was like the first act, most people would probably think of it as Just Another Movie.
Even though it's not how I would've done it, they clearly wanted to stand out somehow and swung for the fences. Hot Dog Fingers and Censored Penises was just a bridge too far for me. I didn't mind the rest of the excess, but I wish it hadn't go so far off the rails.
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I’d be fine with the crazy alternate worlds, but the Everything Bagel thing just struck me as “ironic postmodernism thinks it’s clever again and is aiming for an Oscar, which it will win”. And I liked postmodernism a lot, back in the day. But I keep coming back to the story feeling tacky to me. The Icicle Thief it wasn’t.
