The prosecution never rests in Donnie Yen’s new action-infused legal drama, in which the veteran martial artist plays a righteous cop who quits the force to join the Department of Justice when he feels the legal system is letting too many criminals slip through its fingers.
Yen directs as well as stars, alongside a host of familiar faces, including Francis Ng, Julian Cheung and the increasingly ubiquitous Michael Hui, but Yen’s hardcore action fanbase may be left wanting. The Prosecutor too often feels more invested in bludgeoning its audience into submission using the tenets of Hong Kong’s rule of law, rather than the iron fists of traditional street justice.
On paper, The Prosecutor, which releases in the U.S. today, seems tailor-made for Yen, especially at a moment in his career when he is actively looking to broaden his dramatic range. The script, from regular Ip Man scribe Edmond Wong, is a courtroom drama first and foremost, built around Yen’s newly qualified prosecutor, Fok Chi Ho. The film goes out of its way to paint him as a man of the people, who rides the subway and eats at inexpensive cafes rather than living in the lap of luxury like many of his peers. In this regard, Yen proves competent, if far from revelatory, and always more comfortable raising his fists rather than a point of order, but he wisely surrounds himself with a roster of gregarious character players willing and able to elevate the material.
The result is a slickly polished slice of mainstream entertainment that portrays the city’s legal system as a precious yet fragile institution. While it does include a handful of notable action beats, they feel like late additions, inserted after securing Yen’s involvement, to align the project more obviously with the expectations of his fanbase.
Yen the director appears to acknowledge the limitations of his 61-year-old leading man when it comes to these more physically demanding moments. Many of the action showpieces revolve not around Fok, but rather MC Cheung’s young and agile cop Lee, who came up under the Inspector’s mentorship, and continues to take down bad guys the old-fashioned way.
The film’s blistering opening salvo, a frenetic shootout designed to introduce us to Fok’s unerring dedication to old-school law enforcement, sees the camera adopt Fok’s POV for much of the action. This gives the viewer a visceral first-person perspective of a high-octane drug bust, not unlike playing a first-person shooter video game, but notably relieves Yen of the obligation of performing for the cameras.
It soon becomes apparent that Fok will do the majority of his dueling in the courts, where he encounters a Department of Justice that is more concerned with clearing its caseload than putting the guilty behind bars. His overzealous attention to due process quickly sets him at odds with his new colleagues, not least his boss Mr. Yueng (Francis Ng). Even the judge (Michael Hui in fine form) becomes exasperated by Fok’s approach, which is so beholden to the law that he occasionally serves the defense more effectively than the prosecution.
Everything comes to a head during a seemingly open-and-shut case of drug trafficking. Mason Fung’s impoverished young defendant Ma Ka Kit is arrested after receiving a package of narcotics from overseas. He initially proclaims his innocence, claiming only to have offered his mailing address to fellow defendant Chan Kwok Wing (Locker Lam), a known delinquent. On the advice of his lawyers, however, Ma enters a guilty plea, claims sole responsibility, and requests a reduced sentence. While Fok’s colleagues are only too eager to accept a deal and move on, Fok rejects the offer and mounts his own investigation of the defendant’s lawyers, specifically its senior partner, Au Pak Man (Julian Cheung Chi-lam).
Though the legal details sewn throughout The Prosecutor may well be accurate, the script regurgitates facts, figures and procedures with such relentless force that the sheer volume of information soon becomes overwhelming. This is only exacerbated further for non-Cantonese speakers forced to skim-read reams of subtitles detailing complicated legalese at a breakneck pace, while also catching the frequent online captions detailing the various stages of the trial, and attempting to follow the unfolding action.
The Prosecutor arrives at a sensitive moment for Hong Kong, where the recent introduction of the National Security Law and subsequent passing of Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law — often referred to as its mini-constitution — have sent shockwaves through not only the legal system, but all areas of society. These legal tenets, designed to quash criticism of, and political opposition to, Beijing’s ultimate authority are vaguely worded and far-reaching in application. While not specifically addressed in the film, The Prosecutor repeatedly emphasizes that upholding justice is of paramount importance, even when evidence and truth remain elusive or prove insufficient.
At the film’s climax, Fok inevitably does take things outside, laying down a measure of street justice on the real criminals, in an admittedly impressive final scuffle aboard a packed subway train, but it may well be a case of too little too late for Yen’s long-standing kung-fu congregation.
Title: The Prosecutor
Director: Donnie Yen
Screenwriter: Edmond Wong
Cast: Donnie Yen, Julian Cheung, Michael Hui, Francis Ng, MC Cheung, Mason Fung
International Sales: Mandarin Motion Pictures Limited
Release Date: December 21, 2024 (Hong Kong); January 10, 2025 (U.S.)
Running time: 1hr 57mins
