lia00027 I give a high rating on this movie simply because the story line, the cast and overall of the action scenes are great. Unlike Hollywood movies this movie shows humane side of depicting real life stories between brothers, parents-kid, bad guy-good guy. Nicholas and Jay are perfect to acting on this movie they both bring out their best for their characters, none the less the supporting actors like Carl Ng and the one who's acting as their father, the villains are really evil.The plot actually is predictable but what makes me to like this movie is the director brings out his best to show real action scenes with all the explosions and the no-slow-motion (thank goodness) fighting scenes which I find is really good point. Nowadays they tend to shoot fighting scenes with slow motion makes the fighting look not real.The ending is somehow cannot be guessed not about the virus plan but more about the family and the brothers overall it's not such a happy ending but they all get what they wanted. People live in slump tend to be in a bad world because of the situation and still they love their children whole heartily is might be the morale message of this movie.

rgblakey Much like the US, the Asian film market delivers films from all across the spectrum, but most popular is the action genre. The latest The Viral Factor takes the straight forward gun toting action direction while throwing in the popular chemical weapon story line. Will this film live up to the top notch action expected from Asian cinema or will it be one of those confusing all over the place messes that they so popularly deliver.The Viral Factor follows an ISA agent who is betrayed and shot in the head while transporting a scientist to another country. Realizing he has only weeks before the bullet causes complete paralysis he sets out to find a brother he knew nothing about and meets up with a doctor willing to look into treatment for his condition. When his brother attempts to kidnap the doctor, they are forced to work together to stop the criminals from unleashing a disease on the world. This film sports some great action, mostly consisting of gun play, but a few martial arts pieces here and there. Jay Chou most notably to American audiences as Kato from the Green Hornet film takes the lead here and does a good job carrying it on his shoulders. Some aspects of this movie seem all over the place, but nothing too confusing. The film opens with a really good action piece, but does slow down a bit before finally getting back to the action bringing this film full circle.This is a decent action film with just enough twists and turns to deliver a good action film, but could have been so much more with some better pacing and a little more cohesion to the overall story. If you're a fan of Asian action cinema, this is a decent bullet flying showdown to satisfy your appetite.http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-dallas/bobby-blakey

DICK STEEL One of Hong Kong's rising film directors, Dante Lam has gained prominence over the last few years for his lavishly produced, hard hitting cop action thrillers underlined by thick melodrama between the main characters. His latest film The Viral Factor is obvious in having Lam's signature plastered all over, that this could be Dante's spiritual interpretation of John Woo's A Better Tomorrow with brothers on opposite sides of the law having to put aside their obvious differences to work together against a common enemy and goal.The story bore some shades of intention from Woo's Mission: Impossible 2, where a virus got created to hold the world ransom at the breakout of an epidemic. In The Viral Factor, this comes in the form of weaponizing a variant of the smallpox virus, where a corrupt pharmaceutical company had employed thugs to obtain one of the last remnants of the virus, and to fund both its viral nature, and to come up with the medicine and the vaccine, thereby earning itself billions in profits, and adulation from the world for its cures. Talk about being both the devil and angel at the same time, and making tons of money from it.With Dante Lam and Ng Wai Lun sharing screenplay responsibilities from a Candy Leung story, The Viral Factor soon has this premise put on the back-burner as it focused instead on the brotherly bonds or the lack thereof between international cop Jon Wan Fei (Jay Chou), introduced through his dream of getting yanked out of trouble by an invisible hand, and that of perennial robber Wan Yang (Nicholas Tse), a consistently wanted man in Malaysia who commits the largest of crime, and with the backing of corrupt cops, almost always finds a way out of either the court house or the jail. With the Beijing based cop learning from his Mother (Elaine Jin) about her wanting to seek forgiveness from his dad (Liu Kai-chi) and brother for walking out on them, Jon makes the trip to Malaysia to track them down, despite nursing a "bullet-in-the-head" injury that decided to rear its ugly head only during flights (for product placement purposes), or when it's plot convenient.And it is in Kuala Lumpur that the film spends significant time in, with Jon finally reconciling with his dad, his brother amidst under testy situations since both come from different sides of the law, and getting themselves in the way of the villains led by Andy On in full typecast, who are all after a scientist Rachel (Lin Peng) who has the skillset to weaponize the virus, and Wan Yang's daughter who gets captured as collateral. The two brothers have little time to get to know each other since a number of tasks get put in their way that requires plenty of shoot- em-ups to complete, but given this is a Dante Lam film, he'll craft enough emotional scenes in between for the building of camaraderie, and one of the better dramatic moments come when both brothers have to hide at an abandoned construction site and open themselves up, one who's brought up in Malaysia thus very fluent in Cantonese (thankfully and curiously the censors here allowed this to be in full and without dubbing), and the other conversing in Mandarin only. Some may find this a little bit unbelievable, but trust me I'd just appreciate that Nicholas Tse wasn't dubbed over.I would liken Dante Lam to Hollywood's Michael Bay for his penchant of blowing things up, and almost always featuring some of the latest toys in weaponry for their characters to gear up and use. From the get go in Jay Chou's scene in Jordan where his extradition of a doctor and his family goes awry no thanks to an ambush, it's full on military mode and precision as he tackles this sequence, and every other action sequence later, with craft to rival the best of the West. No doubt some scenes may be overly long and indulgent just to showcase what Lam can do, repetitive even, but amongst his filmography The Viral Factor demonstrates just how Lam has continued to improve upon his action delivery. And what makes him stand out is the insistence to focus on the human emotion, so that his characters don't pass off as one dimensional and having an emotional void.Jay Chou has come out to proclaim that this would be his final action film, but to that I'd say never say never. He's more of a singer than actor, although I have to admit he does have screen charisma and have progressed quite nicely from his rather wooden outing in Curse of the Golden Flower. Nicholas Tse on the other hand shows why he's top dog now, with that ability to balance the more dramatic moments and holding his own during the action sequences. His acting has developed from when he first started out, relying on his "idol" looks and poser attitude then, to grow into a bona fide actor now, with some of his best work done under the watch of Dante Lam. It's a surprise to have lined this up for the Lunar New Year since this is a period for comedies and family friendly entertainment, but if you're in the mood for some action, The Viral Factor lives up to expectation despite minor plot quibbles and loopholes and underlines Dante Lam's ambition and capability to helm large action spectacles, with the promise of more to come.

moviexclusive Forgive us if we wax lyrical about Dante's latest film- it represents not only his best work to date, but it is also easily the most accomplished contemporary action thriller from Hong Kong/ China. Yes we kid you not- each one of the breathtaking action sequences that Dante stages with aplomb can rival the kind of stuff we've only seen so far in big-budget Hollywood movies, and to think that Dante has managed to accomplish it with only a fraction with what it would have cost in a Hollywood production is a triumphant feat in itself.Dante's ambitions for what is- at US$17 million- his most expensive production to date is clear right from the beginning, kicking off with an edge-of-your-seat gripping sequence in the heart of Jordan where a group of highly trained International Disease Commission (IDC) operatives are ambushed while escorting a scientist who has just created a lethal biological weapon from mutating the smallpox virus. Besides orchestrating a jaw-dropping sequence where an RPG explodes under a tank and causes it to tumble off the road and down a cliff, the veteran man of action stages an intense street battle in the style of 'Green Zone' that leaves the entire team dead- save for Jon (Jay Chou) and his leader Sean (Andy Tien).The latter is however alive for an entirely different reason- Sean was in fact behind the very ambush, just so he can sell the virus and its cure to a wealthy buyer halfway around the world. As for Jon, he has to live with a bullet lodged in his brain, which becomes the cause of the severe headaches he encounters from time to time. While recuperating, Jon finds out from his remorseful mother that he has an older brother living with his father in Malaysia, the separation a deliberate act by his mother some many years back to get away from his gambling addict of a dad.En route to Malaysia, Jon meets Rachel (Lin Peng), a medical scientist tasked by the Asian Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) to study the newly created virus. Rachel also happens to be the target of a group of kidnappers led by Yang (Nicholas Tse), and Jon unwittingly gets dragged along when he tries to rescue her. Thus, with a bit of narrative convenience, Dante and his recent muse Jack Ng put brother against brother on different sides of the law- though as you would expect, at some point the two long-lost brothers will eventually reconcile to defeat a common enemy.Pretty much two-thirds of the movie is set in and around the streets of Kuala Lumpur, and the gleaming metropolis as well as its grittier outskirts prove to be an impressive backdrop for the unfolding action. From the crowded streets around the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) to the bustling KL Sentral railway station, Dante keeps the adrenaline pumping and never lets the pace slip. Personally taking charge of the stunt design and entrusting the action direction to another of his frequent collaborators Chin Kar Lok, Dante ups the ante with every elaborate sequence he stages.And trust us when we say that each one of them is as exhilarating as the next- from a shootout along a busy road packed with cars bumper to bumper, to a car chase right in the heart of KLCC, to a helicopter chase around the iconic buildings of the KL skyline, to a three-way battle at a construction site, and finally to a climactic showdown set on board a freighter, there is just so much for action fans to drool over. Thankfully, his d.p. Kenny Tse doesn't adopt the shaky-cam style of Hollywood's 'Bourne' trilogies and wannabes- he keeps the camera steady so the audience can take in every shot, and complements the rest of them with the occasional wide shot to give a panoramic perspective.But this is not merely a collection of well-shot action sequences; rather, at its core, Dante has fashioned a moving story about the immutable bond of brotherhood. Beyond the guns and bullets, there are gripping moments of tense emotion as both Jon and Yang learn to stop blaming the other brother as well as their respective parent for their divergent fates and reconcile as flesh and blood. Kudos to Dante for weaving in the human drama so adroitly amidst the action, alternating between intense action and intense drama seamlessly and delivering a riveting watch all the way through.That the movie proves so captivating is also testament to the charisma of both its leading actors. This is undoubtedly the best role of Jay Chou's acting career to date, his intense brooding performance neither fluffy like 'Kung Fu Dunk' or 'Treasure Hunter' nor over-dramatic like 'Curse of the Golden Flower'. Nicholas Tse once again demonstrates how his acting chops have matured under the watchful direction of Dante, and while it isn't as groundbreaking as his 'Beast Stalker' or 'Stool Pigeon', the recent Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor winner is still mesmerising in a complex good-bad role. Both Jay and Nicholas also gamely perform their own stunts in the movie, and the authenticity of watching them both run, leap and brawl just adds to the excitement.With 'The Viral Factor', Dante has not only reached a new zenith in his career as a director, but also achieved a breakthrough for the Hong Kong/ China film industry as far as making Hollywood-style action thrillers are concerned. It is a white-knuckle adrenaline-pumping thrill ride from start to finish, accompanied with poignant human drama and top-notch performances by both Jay and Nicholas. Indeed, it is well- deserving of all the superlatives we have lavished on it thus far, and if you don't remember all of them, then just remember to make this a must-see movie this year.