Star Trek: Section 31 headlines on X condense the movie's mostly negative reviews

The reviews for Star Trek: Section 31 have ranged from the mildest of praise to the harshest of criticism, which is a shame since it’s been nearly a decade since fans have seen a feature-length Star Trek adventure. We’ve already posted our own review of Section 31 and excerpts of other reviews, but we thought now’s the time to check out the short, pithy headlines from reviews on X, formerly Twitter, which succinctly sum up a reviewer’s opinions of the Paramount+ film. These headlines come from Hollywood trade papers, Star Trek and sci-fi sites, and fans.

In a way, Section 31 seemed a bit cursed from the get-go. It was initially meant to be a Discovery spin-off series starring Yeoh, who suggested a show featuring her popular character, Emperor Philippa Georgiou. Delay after delay occurred, however, much of it caused by the pandemic, during which time Yeoh emerged as a hot property. She then won an Academy Award for her performance in the surprise blockbuster, Everything Everywhere All at Once. Suddenly, Yeoh had her choice of projects to pick. To her credit, she remained attached to Section 31 the entire time. And the fan base cheered when, in April of 2023, Paramount+ announced that Section 31 would be produced as what they called an “event film.”

Fans then saw the movie’s trailer, which gave off anything but a Star Trek vibe. And out came the daggers, as people began sharing their grave doubts about what the finished product would look like. Unfortunately,  when Section 31 dropped on January 24, such concerns proved valid, as the sampling of review headlines below shows…

@InsideTheBig12 wrote, “Star Trek: Section 31 is almost unwatchable. I thought Discovery was bad… S31 lowers the bar so far it becomes a step.”

@RickLeeJames didn’t mince words either, noting, “Section 31: A failed experiment.”

In something resembling a positive reaction, Nerdist noted that “Star Trek: Section 31 gave fans a bevy of deep-cut alien races in major roles.”

Also on the positive side, @DennisKoch10 wrote, “Star Trek: Section 31 Review: This Discovery Spinoff Film Is B-Movie Trash (In A Good Way).”

Slightly less on the positive side, @TheTrekCentral, pointed out that “Michelle Yeoh is back, but this new action adventure does not feel or look like a #StarTrek movie -- that’s both a blessing and a curse.”

@thewebbie showed no mercy at all, asking, “Is this Section 31 Star Trek movie a practical joke? WTF.”

The San Francisco Chronicle, in a synopsis of its full review, stated., “It’s difficult to pinpoint precisely who Star Trek: Section 31 is aimed at. The first Trek film since 2106’s Star Trek Beyond feels less like an inspired return to the feature frontier and more like a patchwork product of corporate calculus.”

@karacterdrive argued that “Star Trek: Section 31 is neither enjoyable nor Star Trek. Discuss.”

@Variety didn’t exactly fire phasers to kill, writing, “Star Trek: Section 31 Review: Michelle Yeoh Stars in a Franchise Tangent Too Thinly Tethered to the Mother Ship.”

Whereas the headline from The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) read, “Star Trek: Section 31 Review: Not Even Michelle Yeoh Can Paramount+’s Subpar Spinoff Movie.”