THE HADES FACTOR is a routine conspiracy/scientific/virus thriller with an international appeal and plenty of familiar cast members. It plays out as two feature-length episodes while the plot is based on a mix of the likes of OUTBREAK with the TV show 24, with protagonist Stephen Dorff made up to look EXACTLY like Kiefer Sutherland. The story is about a new kind of virus that kills people instantly in gruesome ways; it soon transpires that it's actually a chemical weapon so there are human bad guys in the mix too. The cast includes performances from the likes of Jeffrey DeMunn, Anjelica Huston, Mira Sorvino and Sophia Myles, all of whom seem to be on autopilot here. It's not the worst thing you'll see, but it's little more than an average time-waster at best, let down by being just too predictable for its own good.

While in a retrieve operation of a virus in Berlin, the Covert One agent Rachel Russell (Mira Sorvino) is double-crossed by two dirty agents; she kills them and escapes, trying to find a hiding place and someone to trust to protect the vials. Meanwhile, the former Covert One agent Dr. Jon Smith (Stephen Dorff) is also in Berlin with his beloved fiancée Sophie Amsden (Sophie Myles) participating in a congress. When three persons die with bleeding, the doctors disclose a Hades virus outbreak, an extreme rare Ebola variant. Jon and Sophie return to the USA to research a cure, and Jon discovers a huge combination of bio-terrorism and conspiracy.

"Covert One: The Hades Factor" is a long full of action thriller with conspiracy, terrorism, corruption and betrayal. The complex story is very well-developed along 165 minutes running time and very well acted. Mira Sorvino has specialized in the role of detective or agent, following brilliantly the steps of her father. Stephen Dorff is also excellent and the gorgeous Sophie Myles of "Tristan + Isolde" has a short but effective participation. The conclusion is not predictable but has nor surprised me. In the end, it is a story about the good old-fashioned American capitalism in times of terrorism and intolerance. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): 'O Fator Hades" ("The Hades Factor")

If you enjoyed the Dustin Hoffman movie Outbreak, the TV series 24 and X-Files and the HBO/BBC series TheCell, and wondered what would happen if you mixed them altogether, then this is the result.

It trundles along at the usual pace of all the above, with Stephen Dorff doing his best Jack Bauer impersonation, in both looks and personality. Naturally the love of his live is offed fairly early on and that sets up the lone-agent working to recover the truth. Very 24'esque.

The X-Files element is all the government conspiracies that are woven into the plot and that makes for more distraction than anything else. The story is a good one on its own merit, no need to keep mixing in nonsense that really only serves to bog down the movie.

But on the whole it is a good watch.