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★ 8 / 10
In the Hong Kong action thriller The Prosecutor
Chris Sawin
In the Hong Kong action thriller The Prosecutor, a young man named Ma Ka-kit lives with his Uncle Ma in a low-income home. He rents out his address in an…
In the Hong Kong action thriller The Prosecutor, a young man named Ma Ka-kit lives with his Uncle Ma in a low-income home. He rents out his address in an effort to make some extra money, but he receives a package containing a kilogram of cocaine and gets arrested for drug smuggling. Chan Kwok-wing, the second defendant in the drug smuggling case, is found to be the one who purchased Ma Ka-kit’s address.
Ma Ka-kit (Mason Fung) is convinced by his defense lawyer Li Sze-man ( Shirley Chan) and legal executive Au Pak-man (Julian Cheung) to plead guilty to reduce his sentence. But once the case reaches leniency court, Ma Ka-kit is sentenced to 27 years in prison while Chan Kwok-wing (Locker Lam) is acquitted. Now, Ma Ka-kit’s fate rests in the hands of Fok Chi-ho (Donnie Yen), a former narcotics police detective turned public prosecutor.
Written by Edmond Wong (Ip Man 1-4, The Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven’s Palace), The Prosecutor is inspired by the real case that transpired in 2016. The film is also directed and produced by Donnie Yen (who also directed Sakra).
Fok Chi-ho is brought to the DOJ or Department of Justice under the tutelage of pupil master Bao Ding (Kent Cheng) and is told flat out upon arrival that the DOJ typically leaves decision-making in the hands of chief prosecutor Yeung Dit-lap (Francis Ng).
Surprisingly, Donnie Yen was hesitant to accept this role since most of the action was injected into the film once he signed on. Yen wasn’t familiar with legal dramas initially, but worked with Edmond Wong and his stunt team to create a film that is dramatically engaging with dynamically unique action sequences.
In foreign martial arts films, it’s often that the action is great but the story and acting are pure trash or lackluster at best. But The Prosecutor is a thrilling and engrossing drama first highlighted by its action. Donnie Yen turns 62 this year, but his martial arts is as hard-hitting and breathtaking as ever. What works in The Prosecutor’s favor is a solid script from Edmond Wong and Yen being surrounded by a talented cast.
There’s an ongoing conflict between how the legal system and DOJ specifically operate and how Fok Chi-ho is as a new prosecutor. Fok fights hard for Ma Ka-kit and this one case specifically solely because he’s a young man with a bright future who is stuck thanks to his practically nonexistent relationship with money. Everyone at the DOJ is constantly ribbing Fok over Fok’s troublesome mindset of giving the little guy a fair shake despite whether or not it’s normal protocol. It’s essentially the government with endless wealth at its disposal and a cut-and-dry mentality versus the financially destitute underdog.
The Prosecutor isn’t overloaded with action but features several memorable sequences that should be considered some of Donnie Yen’s best. The opening is a drug bust that shows Fok on his last big outing as a police officer. He gets a hold of a police shield and demolishes everyone as the camera shifts to a first-person POV. Donnie Yen throws in a few dropkicks for good measure.
Once Fok shifts careers, former subordinate Lee King-wai (MC Cheung Tin-fu), takes over as police inspector. The two collaborate on an insane action sequence in an alley that features Lee King-wai doing MMA takedowns not unlike what Yen did in Flash Point. The scene is highlighted by Yen Tokyo Drifting a white car into the tiny alley flawlessly followed by jumping out of the car and beating everyone down with a hockey stick.
There’s also the club sequence that’s already eye-catching thanks to its dynamic lighting, but features some crazy drone camera shots and Fok holding off 100 men on his own. The absolute best sequence in the film is the subway finale. Seeing so much bone-crunching action in a tiny moving space is jaw-droppingly great.
My initial desire upon hearing about The Prosecutor is that Donnie Yen would shout OBJECTION! or OVERRULED! regularly and then he’d beat up criminals with a flurry of punches, no less than 17 dropkicks, and top it off with an emphatic suplex. That’s basically what you get with The Prosecutor, but it’s also surprisingly well-written with solid acting from an all-around superb cast.
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★ 8 / 10
This works because Donnie Yen's Prosecutor needs more than his superb kungfu skills to bring justice.
sophaljonesy
When I saw the trailer to the movie, I was hyped because Donnie Yen's character looked desperate and the title suggests he needs more than his expert martial…
When I saw the trailer to the movie, I was hyped because Donnie Yen's character looked desperate and the title suggests he needs more than his expert martial arts skills to succeed. This is what makes the movie work. In all of Donnie Yen's movie, you know he can use his fists and kicks to solve problems, so to raise the stakes,not only should there be a formidable nemesis but something that even Yen's superb fighting skills will not suffice. In The Prosecutor, Donnie Yen plays a former cop on his first case as Prosecutor and decides to investigate a possible framing of an innocent teen. Of course, he has to fight multiple henchmen and there are great fight scenes but, he still needs to find evidence and keep people alive. So that the challenge is in ensuring people live because Donnie's character can always overcome his enemies but not everyone is him. For me, balancing the action with the story worked to raise the stakes. While there are prolonged dialogues with very in your face lecturing about the duty of a Prosecutor, you can feel Yen's character's desperation because he can't do it alone. Furthermore, Yen is also emphasizing his age. His character admits he can't run after thieves anymore, and we see him taking beatings, but all the fight scenes are still intense and brutal. Yen can still move fast and deal powerful blows. However , playing and aging character, his fights are more tactical and employs use of the surroundings a lot. Yen, being the director, also allows his co star to shine in a few fight scenes. This shows that he is generous as an action star too. I would love to see more movies like this from him, where he is not only physically challenged but intellectually or emotionally challenged. Moreover, Yen consistently tries new techniques in his movies. There is the use of POV camera, to wide-screen shot over a rooftop, to the cramped space of a subway train. It's like he is using his experience in John Wick to use in the movie.
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★ 8 / 10
Best Donnie Yen Film Since Flash Point
ferris_cheong
This is definitely the best Donnie Yen film since the classic action masterpiece Flash point. What make it so great is the phenomenal cast of this film…
This is definitely the best Donnie Yen film since the classic action masterpiece Flash point. What make it so great is the phenomenal cast of this film, instead of having just one Donnie Yen going solo and all action pack, this film takes the better approach of using many great actors from HK (Chi Lam, Kent Cheng, Francis Ng etc) to take care of the story, dialogue and leveling this film to be more than just an action blockbuster. In this film you can sort of see Donnie Yen age is catching up, slightly reduce the amount of action he does on scene compare to previous movies. However, he also seems to adapt from the his experience in the the Hollywood such as John Wick, the equaliser etc, that being much more environmental with his fighting style, this is fantastic when mixing it up with his own style of fighting. Also great to see he finally get rid of overly do the wing chun and be back to the MMA approach. Despite reducing the amount of action he performs on screen, the quality has just been top notch with everything he shows. The beauty of grappling is second to none in movie history and confident to say no other action choreography can match Donnie Yen's design (99% of flashy choreography in other film falls into the fake and overly use of wire category) While the grappling in this film is solid and realistic while remain eye pleasing just like Flash point. I have been inspired and trained mma for more than a decade by now, unrealistic action design is always cringe when I watch it. But if you know martial arts and grappling, this film paint a beautiful picture with is. Apart from Fash point, even Donnie's SPL and Special ID couldn't captured that master performance. This film is the first that is ever close to flash point level and definitely a better all around film. Here to say Donnie Yen's stunt team are all amazing and truly makes his work shines by a 1000 folds. And we know hard it to make something this beautiful in an action film.
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just watched... good movie..