The film revolves around Jay Chou and Nicholas Tse as two estranged brothers on opposing ends of the law, who end up cooperating by circumstance to take down obligatory villain Andy On. Fan girls should note, however, that there is precious little interaction between the two main leads, with Tse only appearing in the latter half of the movie.
Like virtually all vanilla action movies, The Viral Factor`s plot is formulaic. Unlike its successful counterparts, however, the film never transcends this genre flaw via character development, and hence, we are never emotionally invested enough in its characters to feel a sense of tension during its numerous action sequences. While the film has several adequately choreographed gun fights, car chases and ye olde fisticuffs to sate the unfussy action junkie, director Dante Lam`s decision to leave character development to the latter part of the film makes for a tedious first half.
While The Viral Factor only finds its voice and emotional footing in its second act, the precious few interactions between its main leads are highly engaging, and this, coupled with some riveting action sequences, make the movie worth the price of entry, if just barely.
Summary: Solid, but nowhere near infectious.
Rating: 3/5 Raphael Lim