The cast and crew of Section 31 tell io9 why stories about the controversial Star Trek organization are necessary for the franchise's utopian vision.

Watching the "Star Trek" movies in order of release also places them in proper continuity order, since the original cast handed off the film series to the "Next Generation" cast in 1994 after the final episode of "The Next Generation," and the reboot movies follow their own continuity that branches off from the main timeline.

Section 31, a feature film that's a spinoff of the series Star Trek: Discovery, will soon be available to stream on Paramount+. The movie immediately grips its audience by the throat, delivering a cold open about the brutality necessary to acquire power that almost rivals Anakin Skywalker's march on the Jedi temple in Revenge of the Sith.

It's a fine excuse to occasionally watch Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh kick things, but Section 31 is otherwise a deeply incurious squandering of Star Trek potential.

Section 31 sees the beloved sci-fi franchise lean hard into outrageous, b-movie action ... and it somehow works better than you'd think.