This Discovery spin-off is B-movie trash (and that’s a good thing)

What is Star Trek in 2025?

That’s the question fans are sure to ask after watching Star Trek: Chapter 31, the new Paramount+ film that literally takes the iconic sci-fi franchise to a place it’s never been before. Set outside the Federation, where there are virtually no Starfleet characters, it’s a corner or universe of Trek rarely explored on screen – desolate, lawless, brutal and blissfully free of pesky “ethics” and “utopian ideals”. ” that movies and shows around Gene Roddenberry so often rely on. Star Trek has always acknowledged that the galaxy can be so hideous, but has usually shown it through the eyes and ideals of steadfast leaders, scientists, and diplomats. But in “Chapter 31,” the universe it’s not brave people who do the right thing that save them, but tough, nasty a-holes who know how to punch, stab and shoot yourself in a bad situation.

So, once again, it’s Star Trek if it’s set in the Star Trek universe but deliberately avoids the typical elements that define Star Trek for many? It’s a question that I imagine Chapter 31 will spark in fans, and a conversation that’s definitely worth having. But on its own, Chapter 31 certainly delivers a certain set of goods: it’s a hugely entertaining slice of B-movie action trash that has a distinctly Gerard Butler in January flavor to it, and it’s certainly not like anything else. yet we have ever seen to bear the Trek name. It’s dumb and silly, and sometimes downright funny, but there’s no denying the sheer fun of the whole thing.

Technically a spin-off from the recently completed Star Trek: Discovery (and largely created by Disco veterans including writer Craig Sweeney and director Olatunde Osunsanmi), Chapter 31 centers on one of the most loathsome and unpredictable characters in Trek history. Michelle Yeoh’s Filippo Georgiou, a bloodthirsty tyrant and warlord from the infamous “Mirror Universe” who now finds himself in the main Trek universe, is once again recruited by Section 31 (aka Starfleet’s CIA-flavored black ops unit) to embark on a major mission of importance . Joined by a team of rambunctious, dangerous weirdos (and one Starfleet warden), she has to, you know, save the galaxy. But this team doesn’t have to worry about things that Picard and Spock would worry about. As a moral.

Clearly, Chapter 31 is designed to appeal to action fans outside of Trek’s core audience, and the initial setup screams Mission: Impossible or The Fast and the Furious , but the broadcast budget and overall sense of bleakness that permeates everything is more memorable Nasty B-movies like Den of Thieves. And honestly, that’s okay. Star Trek is at its purest when it’s smaller, edgier and stranger, and while Chapter 31 might seem like it’s trying to be the coolest thing in the room, it’s actually pretty dumb, relying on botanic franchise details. as in sword fights, phaser fights, and Michelle Yeoh punching guys in the face. That’s how it should be: Star Trek, which is not dumb, not Star Trek at all.

And frankly, the “boring B-movie lie” is a flavor of Trek we haven’t seen before, and one I’ve come to love more and more as the film’s breakneck pace drags me along scene after scene.

As planned, “Chapter 31” is Michelle Yeoh’s show, and at this point, she dons Georgiou as a blood-soaked spiky vampire glove. Either you enjoy watching Yo flutter, kick, and smile in fight scenes, or you have no taste. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise in Chapter 31 is that she is surrounded by a host of new characters who demand equal attention. Amari Hardwick provides a solid foundation as the team’s resident “normal guy,” though his story is so unusual that it might raise some eyebrows if you know your Trek knowledge. Casey Rolle is a delight as Starfleet’s Rachel Garrett (fans may recognize the name), whose descent into her co-stars’ “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” level gets some of the film’s biggest laughs. And no one understands the task more than Sam Richardson, whose amoral, shape-shifting scientist screams in almost every scene. The best thing I can say about this team of scoundrels is that I would happily see them on another adventure, and the film doesn’t shy away from leaving room for a sequel.

Still, there’s a distinct “closed pilot” flavor to this whole endeavor, which makes sense since Section 31 was originally intended to be a streaming series before it morphed into the modern equivalent of a direct-to-video movie. You often see the action scenes go beyond the smaller budget, though Osunsanmi does its best to let the wild action go as much as possible, even if the VFX budget can’t keep up. In this case, I felt I understood that the film was more likely to look cheap than polished if it meant that some of the more outrageous action beats could bear any fruit. Trek fans are used to the shine”Brave new worlds” may be surprised, but Section 31’s unusual cheapness is indeed a badge of honor – just like the original series in the ’60s, Section 31 always allows its goals to outstrip its budget.

So this brings us back to the question that opened this review. What is Star Trek in 2025, and can something other than Chapter 31 qualify as Star Trek? While it’s certainly not my ideal taste of Trek, and I wouldn’t want it to be the default tone, it’s a franchise built on plenty. If The Next Generation could combine complex narratives of ethics and scientific thought around a silly watch where the crew is transported into a Robin Hood tale by a god-like alien with a wicked sense of humor, perhaps Trek is allowed to go into TV-movie action-trash mode. Any rewatch of the original series reminds us that Star Trek, for all its lofty ideals, is built on a gleeful, shaky foundation of outrageous garbage. The beauty of Star Trek is that it’s kind of, sort of everythingand we will argue about the nature of it all until the sun burns out.

And so here I am, giving my recommendation for Star Trek: Chapter 31, knowing that it will alienate many Trek fans who want this franchise to be exclusive cool hard sci-fi, and knowing that it has an inherent dullness and underpinning the deep Trek references may put off those looking for a good time with some dumb action. What is Star Trek in 2025? It is something special, strange and so alienating that it is not for everyone. And this is “chapter 31”.

/Movie rating: 7 out of 10

Star Trek: Chapter 31 airs on Paramount+ from January 24, 2025.