Back home

The Prosecutor

154 votes

Producing House

A poor young man is wrongly charged with drug trafficking after being deceived. An ex-prosecutor investigates the case, uncovers a corrupt lawyer team's scheme, and restores justice despite obstruction from evil forces.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 2024-12-08

Runtime: 117 mins

Director: Donnie Yen

Writer: Edmond Wong Chi-Mun, Cheung Chun-Ho

Spoken language: 广州话 / 廣州話, 普通话, English, 日本語

Genres: Action, Drama, Crime, Thriller

Original title: The Prosecutor

Production Companies: Mandarin Motion Pictures, China’s Huace Pictures, Super Bullet Pictures, AquaProduction

Production Countries: China, Hong Kong

Reviews

C

ChrisSawin
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.
2025-01-17

Recommendations

One Hundred Steps
3.9

One Hundred Steps

2000-09-01

Peppino Impastato is a quick-witted lad growing up in 1970s Sicily. Despite hailing from a family wi

Stranger on the Third Floor
3.2

Stranger on the Third Floor

1940-08-16

Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has s

The Storm
3.3

The Storm

2009-09-17

A fictional story within the historical context of the disastrous flood that engulfed the Dutch coas

Maidaan
4

Maidaan

2024-04-10

Inspired by the Indian national football team coach and manager Syed Abdul Rahim, who is regarded as

Absolute Power
3.3

Absolute Power

1997-02-14

A master thief coincidentally is robbing a house where a murder—in which the President of the United

Freaks
3.9

Freaks

1932-01-01

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his defor

Schindler's List
4.3

Schindler's List

1993-12-15

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis

Tough Enough
3.4

Tough Enough

2006-03-09

From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that

Maria Full of Grace
3.6

Maria Full of Grace

2004-01-18

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her fami

A Beautiful Mind
3.9

A Beautiful Mind

2001-12-14

From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. A

Erin Brockovich
3.7

Erin Brockovich

2000-03-17

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a litt

Shaft's Big Score!
3

Shaft's Big Score!

1972-06-08

John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.

Monster
3.6

Monster

2003-12-24

An emotionally scarred highway drifter shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her, and ultimately becomes

The Crime of Padre Amaro
3.3

The Crime of Padre Amaro

2002-10-01

Sent to Mexico to help take care of aging Father Benito, young Father Amaro faces a moral challenge

Rashomon
4

Rashomon

1950-08-26

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Absolut
3.9

Absolut

2005-04-20

Two guys against globalization want to plant a virus in the network of a finance corporation. On the

Apollo 13
3.7

Apollo 13

1995-06-30

The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the l

The Lives of Others
4

The Lives of Others

2006-03-23

In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and h

To Kill a Mockingbird
4

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962-12-20

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their ti

Titanic
4

Titanic

1997-11-18

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A y