The Viral Factor [Blu-ray]

(2.5 STARS) Entertainingly Overblown Action Flick Marred by Poor Storytelling
Following the success of two well-made crime dramas "The Beast Stalker" and "The Stool Pigeon" (both starring Nicholas Tse), director Dante Lam has come back with "The Viral Factor" ("Jik zin"), a more action-oriented movie about two estranged brothers, Man Yeung (Nicholas Tse), a criminal hired by a terrorist group trying to use a mutated smallpox virus as a biological weapon, and Jon (Jay Chou), an International Security Affairs agent who is severely injured in his latest mission to stop them.

In action movies you may ignore a melodramatic story and incredible coincidences and enjoy action set-pieces, but stupid characters are something different. Action sequences themselves (that take place in Jordan, and for the most part, Malaysia) are decent with a fair amount of explosions and gunshots, but slick as it is, none of them is really thrilling, with super-efficient terrorists shooting hopelessly incompetent cops and guards.

I know I should not take the film too...

High-octane action entertainment
Dante Lam (Sniper, Beast Stalker) helms another commercial action vehicle starring Jay Chou (The Green Hornet) as Jon, a UN escort soldier who was supposed to be accompanying a scientist who'd turned himself in, to Norway, but his team is ambushed and he is shot in the head and left for dead. With doctors' unable to remove the bullet, he decides to spend whatever time he has left with his ill mother until he learns he has a brother, Man Yeung (Nicholas Tse), who is living a life of crime in Malaysia. When Jon heads to Malaysia to bring his brother back to see his mother, both he and Man get caught up with the man who betrayed Jon and his team.

At first, it may seem difficult to follow the plot, but it's not, in fact part of it is not all that different to the plot of 'Mission Impossible 2'. It's also full of holes and, I think, relies way too much on coincidences to be good or coherent. But underneath all the martial arts, flying bullets, explosions and conversations about...

Yes
I'm a big fan of Jay Chou & Nicholas Tse. Putting them together in this movie as enemylike brothers was a great idea.

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