Hot War

Sterling Chinese scientists researching subliminal imagery in a CIA lab in Chicago are targeted by bleach-blond terrorist 'Alien' on behalf of a sinister mogul who plans to create economic chaos by inserting subliminals into television coverage of the Asian Games. With one wife murdered and one fiancée kidnapped, the two men submit to an experimental programme to turn them into hyper-skilled 'VR Fighters' and rush to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur for daring rescues, showdowns, etc. This expensive, derivative attempt at a virtual reality thriller with much dialogue in English is a misguided response to the decline of the HK film industry. The stars, charismatic elsewhere, might as well be CGI figures; cinematographer-turned-director Jingle Ma's only non-Hollywood idea is to give it a tragic/elegiac ending. Yawn.