Review: Oscar Winner Michelle Yeoh Leads 'Star Trek: Section 31,' but Boldly Goes Nowhere

Michelle Yeoh reprises her wickedly amusing role as Philippa Georgiou, the diabolical and pansexual ruler of an alternate universe, in the Paramount+ film "Star Trek: Section 31." Sadly, the fun is missing from this standalone venture – which is strange, since it seems like the idea was to forsake the usual "Star Trek" elements in the name of pure, and sometimes puerile, kicks.

A cross between "Guardians of the Galaxy"-style comedy and "Mission: Impossible" spy theatrics with high-tech gear, double-crosses, and the threat of mass destruction on a galactic scale, "Section 31" is only nominally part of the "Star Trek" universe. Georgiou as we see her here is the shadow version of a heroic Starfleet captain first introduced at the beginning of "Star Trek: Discovery." There's a big difference, though; in her youth, this Georgiou won a "Hunger Games"-style contest to ascend to the throne of a fascistic interstellar empire. She is the product of a twisted "Mirror Universe," where treachery is lauded, compassion is disdained, and kindness is regarded as foolish. (If that sounds dishearteningly like America in its first, and now second, deep dive into Trumpism, well, it was no accident that Season One of "Star Trek: Discovery," released in 2017, spent several episodes in the Mirror Universe.)

It's taken various twists and turns for Georgiou to end up where she is when the telefilm begins. Suffice to say, she's now the head of a sprawling space station where gambling is the least egregious offering on a full menu of vices. The time is approximately the first half of the 24th century, and a ruthless secret agency called Section 31 (which Georgiou worked with in "Discovery") tracks her down in order to see what she can tell them about a new threat.

More than they expect, as it turns out; indeed, the shortest distance between where the Section 31 team find themselves and resolving the threat is to bring Georgiou on board and even allow her to strategize their moves.

A hallmark of "Star Trek" shows are the formula they use for each series' cast of characters, who are usually a mix of humans, aliens, Starfleet officers, and odd beings out, the latter serving as the viewer's proxy when questions arise about how the Federation's futuristic utopia actually operates. (No money; post-scarcity, thanks to hi tech; everyone is emotionally and spiritually enlightened.)

"Section 31" throws all of that out the window by taking place outside of Federation space and introducing us to a clutch of chaotically lawless misfits that sometimes feel ported in from other sci-fi franchises. Case in point: A cybernetic soldier who bears more than a passing semblance to Cyborg from the DC superhero movies. Another case in point: A midlevel villain with what looks like an aluminium mohawk who could have been a street boss in a Joel Shumacher "Batman" movie or, at best, an extra from the "Blade Runner" set on a bad day.

Even where team members represent versions of deep-cut populations we've seen before during the long, diverse array of "Star Trek" series and movies – a Deltan seductress, a superhuman Augment, a shape-shifting Chameloid, and even a younger version of a famous "Enterprise" captain – they don't seem cut from the same cloth as the "Star Trek" characters we're used to. Not that "Star Trek": characters need to be clones of earlier personae; however, classic "Trek" characters have strong, well-defined personalities.

We don't get that here. Instead, the characters feel like... well, clones of familiar personae from other kinds of projects, including teen sex comedies. At a couple points, a character who clearly belongs to the same race as the aliens of the week featured on the classic TOS episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" shows up to crack prurient jokes; half black and half white, these aliens were once an earnest, if heavy-handed, embodiment of the tensions around race relations in America. There's none of that here – which is fine, except that there's nothing of substance in its place. The character is simply a cipher with mildly interesting makeup and a seventh-grade view of sexuality.

The core of the franchise, and the DNA of its ethos from its earliest days, has been an examination of moral and social concerns. At its best, the series and movies hold up history, and human nature, to a critical (if always compassionate) lens, asking questions about tough choices and ethical dilemmas. "Section 31" doesn't bother with such musings; it's far too busy chasing around and trading in frothy, sometimes juvenile, dialogue. There's an illusion of snappy action, but much of what happens here is merely busy, not essential to a story or theme.

"Section 31" is a decent enough choice for an hour and a half of pyrotechnic entertainment. Don't, however, tune in expecting a compelling ethical paradox, deeply imagined characters, or even a very convincing plot. This may or may not be an adequate representation of Section 31 (the secretive organization remains enough of an unknown that we can't really judge), but it's not "Star Trek" in any meaningful sense of the brand.

"Star Trek: Section 31" premieres on Paramount+ on January 24.