Test 2

Please select your preferred language.

請選擇你慣用的語言。

请选择你惯用的语言。

English
中文简体
台灣繁體
香港繁體

登入

记住我

初到 Fridae?

Fridae Mobile

Advertisement
Highlights

More About Us

时尚娱乐

« 较新的 | 较旧的 »
18 Jan 2012

The Viral Factor

Dante Lam returns with another slam-bang action epic that's also high on character.

Original Title: 逆战

Director: Dante Lam

Screenplay: Dante Lam, Candy Leung, Wai Lun Ng

Cast: Nicolas Tse, Jay Chou, Andy On, Jian Lishan, Bai Bing, Anthony Sandstrom

Despite a title sounding like a reality show where people compete to see whose internet viral videos get more hits, The Viral Factor is really a pulse-pounding, lightning-paced action thriller that truly thrills with its strong visuals and solid script.

International Defence Commission (IDC) agent Jon Wan (Jay Chou) was raised by his loving mother, who left his alcoholic ex-policeman father and has built a better, more affluent life with him. Nicholas Tse is his brother Wan Yang who while staying with his crippled, alcoholic hawker father in Kuala Lumpur, has been in and out of crime since he was 16. On a mission in Jordan to escort a brilliant germ warfare expert to safety, Jon is betrayed and left for dead by fellow agent Sean (Andy On) who turns out to be working for an international arms dealer in a plan to weaponize a new virus, unleash it on an unsuspecting populace before selling the world the cure and turning a huge profit.

After recuperating from his occupational injuries, Jon goes to Malaysia to search for his father and brother on his mother's request. There he finds that Yang has recently escaped from police custody after trial for armed robbery, and is living with their father who has since become a hawker. When an attractive female scientist Dr Kan (Lin Peng) becomes involved, they uncover a trail of conspiracies and cover-ups involving all the way back to Sean.

The movie's strength lies in its characters and its well-orchestrated set pieces. The parallels between both brothers, who are both quick-thinking, reckless and self-sacrificing despite the different sides of the law they take, are enforced without ever coming off overly unsubtle. The set pieces are well-executed to function almost like a kind of rough action poetry, where explosions don't punctuate every scene but are used judiciously, and where suspense is kept high by always letting the audience know a little more than the character does, but the character is given excellent reasons for not knowing what the audience knows.

The script's sole weakness is a kind of overly drag-on sentimentality and tweeness in scenes depicting the familial ties of the two brothers, which takes the edge off what is meant to be a rough and tumble action epic. Still, at the end of the day, The Viral Factor is another sign of Dante Lam fast rising to the top ranks of post-John Woo action filmmakers, a maker of slam-bang thrillers that are also high on character.

读者回应

抢先发表第一个回应吧!

请先登入再使用此功能。

Social


This article was recently read by

请选择新闻及专栏版本

精选个人档案

Now ALL members can view unlimited profiles!

Languages

View this page in a different language:

赞好

合作伙伴

 ILGA Asia - Fridae partner for LGBT rights in Asia IGLHRC - Fridae Partner for LGBT rights in Asia

Advertisement