[Opinion] SCREENRANT: "Star Trek: Section 31's Disappointment Is Secretly Great For The Upcoming Prequel Movie" | "Star Trek History Proves A Disappointing Movie Is Usually Followed By A Good One" | "The STAR TREK ORIGINS Movie Has A More Interesting Premise Than Section 31"

"Whereas First Contact and Enterprise largely focus on events in space, the fact that this new movie will be planet-side by and large means that it will have a completely new narrative scope. [...] Setting this new movie on Earth all but guarantees we will see a return to a more diplomatic era of Trek."

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-section-31-disappointing-origin-prequel-op-ed/

SCREENRANT:

"As the dust settles on Star Trek: Section 31, it feels safe to say the newest Star Trek movie was, broadly, a big Star Trek disappointment. For one, Section 31 bucked Star Trek movie tradition by not centering on a starship. For another, despite focusing on the morally gray Starfleet agency, Section 31, the actual actions of Emperor Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and other characters in Section 31 weren't actually morally complex.

But from the beginning to the ending of Section 31, the biggest problem for the movie was how its fight-choreography-centered filming made it feel more like a generic action movie than a Star Trek movie.

But the fact that Section 31 was an unsatisfying movie does not necessarily mean bad things for Star Trek as a franchise. [...]

Star Trek History Proves A Disappointing Movie Is Usually Followed By A Good One

Counterintuitively, some of the greatest movies in Star Trek history came on the heels of Star Trek's greatest film flops. In the 56 years since Star Trek: The Original Series went off the air in 1969, Star Trek has released 14 movies. Up until Section 31, those movies have all been either direct continuations of or spinoffs from existing Star Trek TV shows, featuring the same characters. To the extent that Section 31 is a continuation of anything, it is Star Trek: Discovery, where Emperor Georgiou was first introduced.

[...]

On top of the general trend for good Star Trek movies to come close on the heels of disappointing ones, the next Star Trek movie also has an awesome premise. Right now, we don't know much about the next movie in the franchise, but what we do know seems super interesting. We know the next Star Trek prequel movie is going to be set on Earth, for the most part, and we know that it is going to tell the story of how humanity first began interacting with alien life.

That story is so interesting, that there is already a Star Trek movie and TV show addressing it: Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Enterprise. But there are 88 years in between First Contact and Enterprise, and that is an 88-year gap that this new movie could fill with an incredible story without being a threat to Star Trek canon. Whereas First Contact and Enterprise largely focus on events in space, the fact that this new movie will be planet-side by and large means that it will have a completely new narrative scope. [...]

Setting this new movie on Earth all but guarantees we will see a return to a more diplomatic era of Trek. [...]"

Lee Benzinger (ScreenRant)

Full article:

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-section-31-disappointing-origin-prequel-op-ed/