Warning! Spoilers ahead forStar Trek: Section 31.
Much has been made of how unremarkably mediocre Star Trek: Section 31 is. Those reactions are certainly warranted, and I recently got into some of the ways in which it failed as a movie. Even so, there are a few things about the movie that are nice to see and deserve some praise.
An older lead in an action-adventure movie
The fact Section 31 exists at all is probably due in large part to the resurgence of Michelle Yeoh's popularity following her Academy Award-winning performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Beyond capitalizing off of Yeoh's popularity, though, Section 31 made its lead a woman in her 60s.
Star Trek actually has a good history, going back to the TOS-era movies, of showing older characters who are capable and effective contributors to society. Given the general Hollywood trend to make movies about 20-somethings who can do everything, though, it is nice to see an action movie with an older lead where her age isn't even a topic of conversation.
Fighting out of phase
The one truly creative sequence in Section 31 was the early fight scene between Georgiou and the "mystery antagonist" as they both wore phase devices. Seeing them run through Georgiou's casino station, phasing through walls and each other, was clever and fun. (We'll ignore the question of why they didn't phase through the floor, since that's an issue in other Star Trek phase stories, too.)
Clearly explained technology
Whether it's excessive detail or ambiguous hand-waiving, a place where sci-fi movies can often falter is in explaining their technology. It was a pleasant surprise, then, that Section 31 did not have this issue. Each of its new tech conceits (beyond basic Star Trek assumptions, like warp drives and transporters) were clearly and succinctly explained in a way that fit with the tone of the movie.
Not too many callbacks
Although Section 31 is disappointing in that it doesn't actually look and feel anything like Star Trek, the silver lining to this is that it also doesn't have an endless stream of distracting references that derail the plot. This is nice, considering some callbacks don't make much sense—like a member of the extinct Cheron species being Georgiou's assistant.
Even Rachel Garrett's presence is not a distraction as a reference. Her presence is not about her one day captaining the Enterprise-C, as seen in TNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise." Even if that role could have easily been anybody else, I can accept that Garrett was once assigned to Section 31. Section 31 doesn't really add to Garrett's character, but Garrett doesn't distract from the movie either.
Expanding on underutilized alien species
Something else I appreciate is the presence of some Star Trek aliens, like Deltans and Chameloids, that have not had much screen time up till now. Granted, it would have been nice if Melle hadn't been unceremoniously vaporized shortly after her introduction, but at least Quasi is a major character in the film. Doing this just helps to make the universe feel a bit bigger.
I'll take what I can get
Showing older people as capable, explaining sci-fi tech clearly and succinctly, exploring existing aliens, and not relying too much on random references can all strengthen a Star Trek story. These are elements of Section 31 that should be carried into future projects, even if Paramount should also maybe consider improving the writing and basic filmmaking in the future.