The Prosecutor is a legal crime action thriller directed by and starring Donnie Yen, reteaming with Ip Man producer Raymond Wong, and features a star-studded ensemble cast.
While it is not on par with the iconic status of the Ip Man film series, it is a modern Ip Man in spirit: Donnie Yen beating justice into a lawless world. Different robes, same job!
In its promotional trailer, it was baffling to see Donnie Yen, presumably the prosecutor in the title, holding a revolver running through a subway car like a police officer.
How would the story explain his fighting abilities and gun training? It's embarrassing to admit, but this ridiculous little hairball intrigued me for a month leading up to the film's release.
After a violent drug bust gone wrong, police officer Fok Chi-ho is disappointed with the criminal system, and quits the police force to become a government prosecutor...The answer I was looking for!
It was this precise moment ten minutes into the film, my expectations were firmly set. There was no use thinking how long it would take for a career policeman to quit, attend law school, and switch immediately to being a government prosecutor. Nor would I think about whether the film will portray the court of law authentically. It's not that kind of movie.
Under this mindset, The Prosecutor is an action-packed and entertaining popcorn film that's worth seeing once.
The ensemble cast, including Michael Hui, Francis Ng, Ray Lui, Julian Cheng, Kent Cheng and Lau Kong provide great support and keep the dramatic scenes engaging. There wasn't any feeling of waiting for the dialogue scenes to end so the fights can commence.
In fact, Francis Ng steals the movie in a hilarious reportedly-improvised scene where he openly challenges Donnie Yen to a fistfight, which was so close to a fourth wall break (whio challenges Donnie Yen in a movie?) that it had me cackling for a whole minute.
Julian Cheng completely morphs as the refined salt-and-pepper-haired businessman villain, a role that would normally played by Michael Wong. Cheng stands out, but falls short of being awards worthy.
The action choreography by Donnie Yen's Stunt Team, is noticeably more audience-friendly and less brutal than Yen's past MMA-themed films, like SPL, Flashpoint and Special ID.
In the past, Donnie Yen's priorities as star and fight choreographer were set on showcasing martial arts authentically. Whether it was police, wuxia or comic book action, he strived to deliver a sense of martial arts realism, notably power.
I see a maturation in Donnie Yen in The Prosecutor.
The Prosecutor felt like a culmination of Donnie Yen's filmmaking experience being applied in full as a director, with Raymond Wong supplying him all the proper resources.
This time, Yen is working with cast and crew he's familiar with and integrating the drama and action together to deliver a solid movie, and not just a movie with great fight scenes.
