The Viral Factor 逆戰 - Nicholas Tse, Jay Chou

[xiaolong]

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Directed by Dante Lam ("Sniper", "Stool Pigeon"), this action-thriller stars Jay Chou and Nicholas Tse as estranged brothers. When an elite counter-terrorist unit based in Hong Kong heads to the Middle East to escort the creator of the deadly smallpox virus to safety, little did they know that they would be betrayed by their team leader. As a result of the incident, Jon Wan (Jay Chou) returns home with a limit on his life and the loss of his fiancee. However, another blow comes in the form of his mother's secret: that she separated him from his older brother, Yang (Nicholas Tse), when they were young. To assuage his mother's guilt, Jon travels to Malaysia to find his brother and father and bring them back, only to find himself caught in a plot to wage a bio-terrorist war.

[rambutan]

I watched the movie because of Jay Chou and the plot looked interesting. I wasn't disappointed. Both Nicholas and Jay acted well together. Action packed from beginning to end, yet there was room for heart. Highly recommended - 4/5.

[xiaolong]

I watched the movie because of Jay Chou and the plot looked interesting. I wasn't disappointed. Both Nicholas and Jay acted well together. Action packed from beginning to end, yet there was room for heart. Highly recommended - 4/5.

Yes! I liked the movie too. Jay and Nic may not be the best actors around, but they have the bad boy ATTITUDE which suits an action-packed movie to a T!

[charbydis]

I was looking forward to it and I am glad that I watched. Though the plot was full of a lot of coincidences, the story had a good balance between action and dramatic scenes. The storyline is not unique and was very much like "MI 2" but much better presented in terms of execution, flow and acting. I do not find Jay a great actor and he is easily overshadowed by Liu Kai Chi & Nic Tse, but he fits in well with the rest of the cast and the trio share good chemistry. The little girl is cute too. Elaine Jin is a great actress. Her few lines are done so emotionally that even though she has a minor role, her presence is memorable.

The action sequences are well choreographed and the editing does not annoy me. I loved all the action ranging from a break-out to a heated car chase to the gun battles though I wished Andy On's martial arts abilities could have been better utilised. I am very impressed since apart from Andy On and Sammy Hung, no one else has any martial arts training yet they manage to look formidable against each other. Very impressed by Nic's stunts. It was refreshing to have the movie shot in KL and even the bit in Jordan. I am glad for once that no one was dubbed and every artiste spoke in their own tongue despite the dialogue shifting between Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Malaysian & Arabic.

However, I though the females should have been a bit more active. Apart from Elaine Jin and the little girl, Bai Bing & Lin Peng are the other two actresses in the movie but neither of them managed to make an impact on me. One of them died too quickly and the other was too much of a damsel-in-distress. However, I am pleased at the lack of focus towards the romantic theme and the concentration towards other themes such as family, brotherly love, friendship, morales and reality. There are plot holes, especially if the audience knows anything about viruses, but they can easily be ignored in favour of the good acting and effort by the actors.

"The Viral Factor" is not perfect but I would rate it 9/10 and would recommend everyone to give it a try. I would not be surprised if Nic Tse received a nomination for his role here.

[ByStander]

does anyone know where I can watch this with subtitle?