Fok Chi Hoi (Donnie Yen) was a renowned Hong Kong police officer (fast with his fists and firearms) but walked away from the force to join the Hong Kong Department of Justice. Thinking he can make more of a difference from within the justice department, he trains for seven years to become a prosecutor and no sooner has he done so, Fok charges ahead and makes waves with his colleagues in the name of justice. Taking on the case of a young man who was paid to use his address for package drop-offs and thus sentenced to 27 years in prison when one of the packages contains drugs, Fok and his new prosecution team dig into the suspect verdict. Believing the young man has been given too harsh a sentence (and may in fact be innocent), Fok uses his tenacious investigative skills (honed as a police officer) to dig into the case, uncovering corruption within the justice system with ties to drug runners: battling criminals both in and out of the courtroom with his wits and fists.
Mixing true-life facts with a rollicking action thriller (and Yen’s customary all-fighting, superman protagonist), ‘The Prosecutor’ is some sleek action-infused fun but can’t quite meld the real-life with the over-the-top action to fully satisfying effect. There is no doubt Yen (here on directorial duties also) has crafted a fine-looking film, nicely shot and paced, and there is ample time given to the more serious court-based aspects of the film as well as the ferocious action set-pieces. Both grip in their own way (though it’s somewhat obvious from the get-go who the corrupt are) but the drama and action sometimes feel a bit at odds with one another. The true life perhaps gets lost in the flights of action fancy, embellishment used liberally to ramp up the Donnie Yen-styled action. It can be a bit jarring, especially as the film tries to make some serious points about the failings of the justice system.
Yen’s character becomes a sort of one-man mouthpiece for all that is wrong with the Hong Kong justice system, pointing out all the failings others have seemingly missed. Coupled with his near-superhuman action heroics, his character does lay everything on a bit thick which can grate. Still, despite the quibbles, ‘The Prosecutor’ still has a lot to offer, not least some wonderfully staged supercharged action. Yen and his team know a thing or two about staging set-pieces, and ‘The Prosecutor’ has its fair share of them. From an ace multi-storey car park chase to Yen’s obligatory taking on multiple assailants at once (which a character even jokes about in a moment of rare levity!) to the barnstorming fight set on a fast-moving subway train, the action is great stuff. There is some inevitable doubling, and Yen’s character humbly admits he’s getting too old and stiff of the knee for heroics, but he still cuts loose for the majority of the action with his trademark ferocity, meaning the action soars.
