Okay, yes it was bad
The reviews for this movie from fans and critics alike have been scathing, so I knew what I was getting into, but I had to see for myself because these days it can be hard to tell whether something is actually bad or if it's being brigaded by a vocal minority.
Section 31, the eponymous secret black-ops arm of Starfleet is barely explained or really mentioned so a casual viewer could be forgiven for thinking that they forgot to come up with a better title for the film. Outside of the fact that it's set in the same universe, and name dropped a few times though it doesn't really matter. This could have been a generic sci-fi movie and nothing would have been lost.
So how does it stand up as generic sci-fi?
Not great.
At best it's a "made for tv" movie, but it's clear throughout the film that it was supposed to have been an episodic mini-series. It really would have been much better had they taken that route and given the audience time to know and care about the characters. Instead we get 6 to 8 episodes hacked down to an hour and a half and it really, really shows.
Since there's no time to plant a seed of a plot point, and then revisit after it has had a chance to germinate into a big reveal, the audience has to suffer while the writers plant their seeds in front of us and then dig them back up again a few minutes later, revealing nothing, surprising no one.
The actors too, are just going through the motions, I could almost imagine them clocking in and out between each awkward scene transition that felt like it should have been the end of the episode. By the time it was over I was right there with them, half watching the movie and half imagining what could have been, two pretty good seasons of Starfleet spy stuff, but instead what we got, a fulfilled contractual obligation between CBS and Michelle Yeoh, I didn't need to be here for that.