Warning: Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Section 31.

Star Trek: Section 31 cast and crew wouldn't have intentionally tried to add to this streak, it only makes the fact that it happened anyway even more interesting.

Star Trek timeline, a sequel still may not be a very good idea. On the other hand, it could actually be a really good plan if the series' weird pattern continues to flourish.

Star Trek's Movie Pattern Explained

The iconic space opera has had mixed results on the big screen

Although Star Trek: The Motion Picture sent ripples of excitement through the fan base after years of inactivity, it's still generally seen as a lukewarm movie. Thankfully, the immediate sequel, 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, immediately validated the decision to take Star Trek to the big screen. After that, subsequent movies followed the same pattern as the first two. There would be a bad Star Trek movie, then a bad one, then a good one, and so on. However, there was something of a reprieve in this strangely consistent phenomenon thanks to 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis.

Star Trek: Nemesis was the second TNG-era movie in a row to disappoint after 1998's let-down - Star Trek: Insurrection. It performed so badly that it ended up being the last Star Trek movie for years. Eventually, JJ Abrams resurrected the movie branch of the franchise with 2009's Star Trek. The first effort to be set in the Kelvin Timeline was widely praised, so it also brought back the bad-then-good pattern 17 years after Nemesis flopped.

If Star Trek: Section 31 had performed well, then the pattern would have been broken for a second time.

Then, history resumed as it often had, and 2013's Star Trek: Into Darkness failed to live up to the 2009 movie's good name before the Kelvin Timeline movies became a trilogy with the success of Star Trek: Beyond in 2016. If Star Trek: Section 31 had performed well, then the pattern would have been broken for a second time. Unfortunately, it has been hugely criticized for several reasons. So, Nemesis remains the outlier in of the pattern being 100% consistent.

Section 31's Reviews Confirm It's A Weaker Star Trek Movie After Star Trek: Beyond

There is solid evidence to prove that Beyond is objectively better than Section 31

Movie taste is very subjective. Just because a project is widely accepted as either good or bad, that doesn't mean there aren't people who believe the opposite. Plus, critical reception can often be very different from how fans enjoy or dislike a movie. So, all sides of the argument need to be considered when arriving at a final decision about whether Star Trek: Section 31 is an improvement over Star Trek: Beyond, or whether the Michelle Yeoh-led effort bucks the trend and gives the franchise two good movies in a row.

Star Trek: Beyond has a score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the fans rate it only slightly lower at 80%. When weighed up against Section 31's ratings, it's clear to see which movie is far superior.

One of the most succinct ways of objectively proving Star Trek: Section 31 is weaker than its most recent predecessor is by heading to one of the internet's most high-profile review sites - Rotten Tomatoes. Sadly, Section 31's Rotten Tomatoes score sits at just 23% percent, and the combined audience reviews value the effort even less at 17%. On the other hand, Star Trek: Beyond has a score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the fans rate it only slightly lower at 80%. When weighed up against Section 31's ratings, it's clear to see which movie is far superior.

The Star Trek Movie Curse Isn't As Clear-Cut As It Used To Be

Older Star Trek movies may be enjoyed far more in the modern age

Ever since Star Trek: Nemesis broke the chain by serving as a second bad movie in a row, it's become far less clear whether the franchise's next feature-length effort will be better or worse than its predecessor. Until then, it was a weirdly consistent pattern. However, in retrospect, it becomes a matter of debate of whether the "bad" movies were just not quite as good as the ones before them. Similarly, it could also just be that the "good" Star Trek movies seemed great because they were an improvement over the previous ones.

Plus, there's also the matter of Star Trek: Into Darkness generally not being held in very high regard by fans but being heavily praised by critics. So, the curse has become far less black-and-white in recent times, rather than a solid formula to work out what the quality of a coming movie will be. Not only that, but some of the older films may be long overdue for reappraisal, as modern tastes aren't the same as they were decades ago, and Star Trek: Section 31's underwhelming impact may make some of the others look like masterpieces by comparison.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes