There are now 14 Star Trek films over the past 50 years and yet the franchise has always had a reputation for cinematic wrestling on the big screen. From the cinematic sequels of the original series to the Kelvin Timeline reboots, Star Trek has always been preoccupied with the question of how to adapt a television series that prides itself on chatty diplomacy and meetings of scientific minds into a blockbuster medium that guarantees the spectacle of sci-fi action. Can Star Trek always be Star Trek in such an environment? This week with the arrival of Article 31 on Paramount+another question is boldly posed instead: what if a Star Trek the film was neither interested in being a Star Trek a film or even a particularly interesting action film?
Article 31 has come a long way to become one of the first TV spin-offs teased of Star Trekthe era of streaming after Discoverythe first season of, before fading into obscurity and reappearing years later as a cinematic vehicle for Michelle Yeoh, now an Oscar winnera bumpy ride keenly felt throughout its nearly two-hour runtime. With Yeoh as her Discovery character Philipa Georgiou, the former emperor of HikingIt is alternate mirror universere-examined and partly redeemed during her time on the series before being sent to times unknown to live a new life – the film follows Georgiou as she is forced to cross paths with the titular agents. black ops spy organization introduced for the first time in New deep spaceand offered him a place on a dangerous mission beyond the confines of Federation space, tied to his bloody past.
This team is made up of an eclectic mix of characters, led by Alok (Omari Hardwick); his right hand and strong arm, the mechanical suit-wearing Zeph (Rob Kazinsky); team shifter genius Quasi (Sam Richardson); Melle (Humberly Gonzalez), Deltan agent; joker Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok); and their Starfleet supervisor, Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl, playing a younger version of Tricia O’Neill’s team captain). Business-C of New generation“Yesterday’s Enterprise”) who, alongside Yeoh, then spend the next few hours running, shooting, and fighting their way through a galaxy-threatening plot. And that’s really the vibe of Article 31: it’s a little less James Bond, and a little more Guardians of the Galaxy, whether this latest series has forgotten to retain the sense of sincerity that underpins its bizarre humor. This could be good, if it wasn’t a Star Trek film titled Article 31– which it is, so it’s not good, and we’ll see why later. But as Star Trek film titled Article 31he exchanges all curiosity about his world and organization for which it is named to instead wrap itself in a clever, but ultimately hollow, sci-fi aesthetic.
Article 31 deeply wants to convey to its audience that its heroes are cool, that what they do is cool, and even that they are all atypical compared to what we expect of them. Star Trek heroes, they are all the cooler because they are. Garrett, as the only official Starfleet officer among them, must straddle this team line stuck in the mud: “Starfleet is here to make sure no one gets involved.” murdershe snaps during her introductory scene, while still being crazy enough to be part of the gang, which seems emblematic of one of the film’s fundamental failures. He’s so interested, even desperate, in communicating his offbeat tone that he forgets to ask anything interesting about its premise, or the loaded intent behind his film title about Section 31 and its place in Star Trekthe universe.
Not once does the film engage with the controversial legacy of article 31 in Star Trek the story, and it never really shows its heroes treading any sort of moral line that would make them anything other than shameless heroes: all that is presented to the audience to imply that it is a unsanctioned entity by design is simply that the team’s mission takes place outside the confines of Federation space, as if Star Trek hasn’t sent its regular heroes across the border countless times before. Article 31 acts like this is all daring and new to the franchise, while at the same time ignoring the reality of what could have made it at least interesting: examining what the people who live and breathe Section 31 actually think about the organization and its place within the organization. the Federation, and what the cost of defending a utopia from destruction would be for someone willing to circumvent those ideals.
If Star Trek is a series that prides itself on thinking big ideas and asking big questions, Article 31 is obsessed with the small one, because it’s easier to make an abrasive joke than to consider the complex ideas behind its namesake that the series has explored in the past. This may all sound like lambasting Article 31 to be a film, which it is not, and perhaps never will be, but it reflects a lack of curiosity felt throughout the film. Its characters are threadbare beyond being presented as quirky and fun on a surface level – regardless of the quality of the supporting cast, anchored around a fun, but equally meager performance from Michelle Yeoh, while Georgiou gets the essential work of the characters in the film. . It presents a series of tropes of the espionage genre, from betrayals to subterfuge and interrogations, but in a way that isn’t really about playing with these tropes in Star TrekThe setting and more to just point at them while it ticks them off Its pacing is awkward and jarring, moving from one moment to the next quickly enough that it never lets the film sit with its characters or them plot stakes to have something meaningful convey.
This lack of curiosity might at least be slightly more forgivable if Article 31 was a good action film to say the least, but it unfortunately fails there too. The handful of action sequences throughout the film contain some interesting ideas, and yes, Yeoh delights in all of these sequences – there are set pieces galore, even if some of them last a bit longer that they are not necessarily welcome. But these interesting ideas are often undermined by lackluster cinematography and editing that often obscure the impact of that action, leaving them feeling empty.
All this to say that this is not a case of Article 31 be different from what is expected Star Trekand therefore bad because of it. Instead, it’s simply a film that struggles to convey a meaningful identity, while ignoring the one it might establish with the rest of the world. Star Trek frankness, whether or not it is in contrast or resemblance to it. A movie that’s just under two hours probably shouldn’t feel like a chore, but Article 31 done, without the spectacle to dazzle the audience away from its anemic character work, nor the thematic meat on its bones for them to sit back and chew. Instead, beneath its deep weirdness, the only thing lurking in the shadows here isn’t a secret, morally compromised spy group: it’s just a pretty boring movie running there.
Star Trek: Section 31 begins streaming on Paramount+ this Friday, January 24.
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