Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Dante Lam
Cast
Jay Chou,
Nicholas Tse,
Andy On,
Bai Bing,
Liu Kai-Chi,
Elaine Jin
Genre
Action,
Drama,
Thriller
International Security Affairs agent Jon is on a dangerous mission to escort a criminal scientist to another country. En route, a member of his team turns out to be a traitor and shoots Jon in the head while kidnapping the scientist. When Jon wakes up in the hospital, a doctor tells him that within weeks, the bullet in his brain will cause complete paralysis. Jon returns to Beijing to see his mother, who confesses that Jon has a brother in Malaysia who was raised by his father, a gambler. Jon takes a flight to Malaysia to find his brother, Yeung. On the plane he forms a bond with Dr. Kan, who promises to look into possible treatments for his condition. However, when they arrive, Yeung tries to kidnap the doctor and when Jon intervenes, he's also taken hostage. The two soon realize they're brothers, and decide to work together in order to keep the criminals behind the kidnappings from reinfecting the world of a disease long thought cured.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Stephen Cole
The Viral Factor is deliriously far-fetched. And one wishes director Dante Lam (The Beast Stalker) could have at least had some giddy fun smashing all his toys around. But his new film is tediously overwrought and drably made, with scenes punctuated by synthesized drums out of eighties American TV drama.
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
A uniquely frenetic hodgepodge of story lures.
Variety
The helmer's blockbuster ambitions, striving to make every move a money shot, relegate human drama to the backseat.
Slant Magazine by Nick Schager
The apparent byproduct of watching too much Bad Boys II, The Viral Factor is a cops-and-criminals saga slathered in glossy Michael Bay-isms.
The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger
The Viral Factor wants to be both an action movie and a soap opera. But the merging of the two genres by Dante Lam, a director based in Hong Kong, is clumsy, and so is the film.
Village Voice by Nick Pinkerton
It's an overloaded, overwrought, profligate production inclined to hysteria and, in cumulative effect, something like being pelted with scenes until buried alive - but it helps keep it from being boring.
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