Officer Fok Chi-ho (Donnie Yen, Ip Man franchise, John Wick Chapter 4, Enter the Fat Dragon) has been an excellent cop for years, utilizing his martial arts skills to help take down the bad guys, and to help protect his fellow officers. However, after several more criminals he worked hard to arrest are set free at trial due to a lack of evidence tying them to the crime, Officer Fok decides it’s time for a change of scenery, and spends the next 7 years earning his law degree.
As he starts his first day working as a lawyer in Hong Kong’s Department of Justice, Prosecutor Fok has a renewed sense of wide-eyed optimism that he can really make a difference. His new mentor, Bao Ding (Kent Cheng, I Did It My Way, Ip Man franchise) welcomes Fok and the other new lawyers, and it isn’t long before Fok has his first case. A 16-year-old boy named Ma Ka-kit (Ho Yeung Fung) had lent out his address to use for a delivery. The teenager was just trying to make some money to help pay the rent for him and his grandfather, Uncle Ma (Kong Lau), and clains he didn’t know that the package contained drugs. Now he is on trial for possession with the intent to distribute, and faces jail time. However, his pro-bono lawyers, Lee Sze Man (Shirley Chan) and Au Pak Man (Julian Cheung, The Grandmaster), insist that Ma plead guilty in order to receive a light sentence. After the judge gives him a hefty prison sentence, he wants to overturn his guilty plea, but his lawyers are of no help.
The whole reason Fok Chi-ho became a lawyer was help find justice, and not necessarily just secure convictions. So when Fok starts to ask questions for the defense at Ma’s trial, the judge and the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Yeung Dit-lap (Francis Ng, Customs Frontline, Infernal Affairs II), are confused as to why Fok is helping the defense—to them, the prosecutor’s job is not necessarily looking for the truth, but to secure the conviction. When he sees that no one else is going to help this boy, Fok calls in some favors with his old police colleagues and starts to investigate the case. As he starts to unravel a history of corrupt lawyers working with the drug cartel to take advantage of unsuspecting individuals, he also learns that the cartel will do anything to keep their operation going. Fok soon finds himself and those close to his defendant targets of the cartel. However, these guys don’t realize just who they are up against. As waves of thugs are sent to silence Fok, he utilizes his well-honed fighting skills to take them down with ease (this is Donnie Yen after all!) Can Fok unlock the truth, bring down the cartel and corrupt lawyers, and find justice for the wrongly convicted before it’s too late? Whether it’s in the courtroom, or on the streets, this prosecutor is determined to exact justice by any means necessary.
The Prosecutor is inspired by an actual legal case in Hong Kong, though I suspect that the ass-kicking martial-arts proficient lawyer taking out the bad guys part is likely embellished or fiction. The film opens with an action-packed sequence as the cops, led by Donnie Yen’s Fok Chi-ho raid a hideout, and utilize their tactical and fighting skills to take down and capture the bad guys. The film then turns into more of a drama as we find this passionate new lawyer trying to right an injustice he sees playing out in the courtroom. However, it isn’t long before we are reminded that this is a Donnie Yen movie, and there’s going to be a lot more action. As Ho is leaving a meeting with his former cop colleague, the officer witnesses a drug deal and chases after those involved, with Fok joining in on the pursuit, and finding himself way out numbered, but certainly not outmatched, in an all out street brawl. And this is how the rest of the film plays out, swapping between a solid character drama and some stellar action-packed fight/action sequences.
Donnie Yen not only stars in the film, but he also directs it, and he does an excellent job blending the drama with the action, while also keeping things quite entertaining and interesting. The film is creatively shot, especially the action sequences. During the film’s opening raid, the camera shifts to an immersive first person shooter style view, putting the viewer into Officer Fok’s perspective as he pursues the perps. Combining this with the fully-immersive sounds of the gunfire make the viewer feel like they are a part of the action. There are also several other big fight sequences, in an alley, on a rooftop, and in a subway, that are quite cleverly and excitingly shot, as Ho takes down dozens of attackers at a time with ease. Even the courtroom scenes as Ho gives impassioned speeches to try to win over a stuck-in-his-ways judge are quite captivating. Overall, fans of Yen should really enjoy the way the film blends exciting action and fight sequences with a more grounded dramatic narrative, something we got a lot of with the Ip Man franchise, except that here the fighting is not a direct part of the story narrative, just something that happens along the way as Fok tries to protect himself and others.
Well Go USA has released The Prosecutor on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray version for review, which looks and sounds excellent. The picture is crisp and clean, with a solid level of detail throughout. The film is offered in both its original Cantonese as a booming Dolby Atmos track, as well as in an equally-immersive English DTS-HDMA dub. Whenever there is a dub track on these Well Go releases, I always like to start with that as I would prefer to enjoy the visuals of a movie rather than be concentrating on reading the bottom of the screen the whole time. The great news is that this dub is quite well acted and natural sounding, though the dialogue differs at times from the English subtitles. Both audio tracks make excellent use of the stereo and surround sound to provide a very immersive feel to the action sequences, and to enhance the ambiance of the court room scenes.
Well Go’s Blu-ray release does not include any bonus material, besides the usual trailer and previews. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a locking HD keepcase. There is no digital copy, but our review copy did include a carboard slipcover.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:57:14)
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: Cantonese Dolby Atmos in Dolby TrueHD, Cantonese Stereo, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English, French
Extras:
- Trailer (1:37)
- Previews
- Hunt The Wicked (1:41)
- Striking Rescue (1:08)
- Eye For An Eye 2: Blind Vengeance (1:45)
Final Thoughts:
The Prosecutor is both an exciting action-packed Donnie Yen movie, but also a solid character/courtroom drama with many twists and turns. Well Go’s Blu-ray release looks great and sounds amazing. The film has also been released on 4K disc, even though I don’t see how it could look any better than it already does! This film is definitely worth checking out for Donnie Yen fans who want to see the actor take down wave after wave of bad guys with his martial arts sills, while also showcasing his more dramatic acting and directorial skills.
