Review of The Viral Factor (2012) by Caesar M — 01 Apr 2012

So while at the local video store I saw a trailer for The Viral Factor and thought it was going to be an action packed movie. It was action packed for sure, but it really doesn't anything else other than that.

The Viral Factor is about International Security Affairs agent Jon who gets shot in the head during an escort mission and loses the criminal he was escorting. I would go on with the short synopsis, but if I do it'll ruin what little story it has. If you're looking a compelling story look elsewhere, this offers none of that. One reason being is that it's directed by Dante Lam, which is was a bad sign to begin with. Unlike Fire of Conscience where he spends to much time developing to many characters, The Viral Factor forgets about that and goes into action mode for most of the movie. One noticeable example of poor writing is the death of a character important to Jon who only shares one scene with him before dying. This will leave no impact on the audience as he doesn't get developed, just like everything else in this movie, and extends the movie longer than it needs to be. Which was another complain of mine, the movie is longer than it needed to be and drags out with the only purpose is to show us more violence.

Dante Lam sure loves violence in this movie since that's pretty much the only time he put any effort into this movie. He tosses away dramatic scenes, even some that were really important to the movie and uses them at the end to little effect. Now the action scenes are entertaining no doubt, but they would've been more enjoyable if they had the story go along with it. Enough focus on the story, the cast on the other hand is likable. That's all, they give bland performances and sometime deliver dialogue that just clearly state the obvious in the movie. Now I'm sure Dante Lam is capable of directing a good movie, but this won't impress you and it lacks most of the elements for good entertainment.

The Viral Factor is a poorly written, over long movie that only focuses on the violence. Now while it did pass the time for me, I suggest looking elsewhere because this won't offer anything memorable and lacks the full entertainment values.