The Prosecutor
The Prosecutor is a 2024 action thriller film directed and co-produced by Donnie Yen, who also stars in the film alongside an ensemble cast that includes Julian Cheung, Michael Hui, Francis Ng, and MC Cheung Tin-fu. Loosely based on a real-life 2016 drug-trafficking case, the story follows a police detective-turned-public prosecutor who seeks to overturn the conviction of a misjudged defendant entangled with a crime syndicate led by a law-educated drug lord.
Driven by the Supreme People's Procuratorate and co-produced by Hong Kong's Mandarin Motion Pictures and China's Shanghai Huace Film, the project was initially conceived as a legal drama film. The screenplay began development by Edmond Wong during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, co-producer Raymond Wong approached Donnie Yen for the lead role, leading to a reimagining of the film as a hybrid of action and legal thriller. Pre-production started in May 2023, with principal photography taking place from October 2023 to February 2024 in Hong Kong. Japanese action choreographer Takahito Ouchi served as the film's action director.
The film was theatrically released in Hong Kong and China on 21 and 27 December 2024, respectively. It secured three nominations in the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the action, innovative genre blend, and performances of the cast, particularly Donnie Yen and Michael Hui, but the screenplay and the lack of exploration of themes regarding justice in Hong Kong were subject to criticism. The box office performance was also considered satisfactory and the film became the fifth-highest-grossing Hong Kong film of 2024.
Plot
Police detective Fok Chi-ho leads his team in the pursuit of an armed robbery gang. Although they capture all of the surviving gang members, the leader leaves no trace linking him to the crime and is released without conviction. This incident causes Fok to lose faith in policing, prompting him to leave the force and study law.Seven years later, Fok joins the Department of Justice and becomes a public prosecutor. Under the mentorship of pupil master Bao, he receives his first case involving drug smuggling. The defendant, Ma, receives a parcel from Brazil containing a kilogram of cocaine. Ma insists he is innocent, claiming he has only lent his address to a friend, Chan, who promises him money to alleviate his family's debts. However, Ma's defense lawyer, Li, and legal executive, Au, mislead him into believing he is likely to be convicted, urging him to plead guilty for a reduced sentence, which Ma and his grandfather, Uncle Ma, agree to. When Li approaches Fok to discuss the plea bargain, Fok finds it suspicious that the terms require Ma to take full responsibility while Chan is completely absolved. Nevertheless, chief prosecutor Yeung accepts the terms, believing they provide the best chance for a conviction. During detention, Ma learns from fellow inmates that Li has deceived him, causing him to reconsider his guilty plea out of fear of not seeing his grandfather again. Fok, who believes in Ma's innocence, allows him to change his plea, which dissatisfies Yeung. In the first trial, Au and Li serve as prosecution witnesses. Despite Ma's lawyer attempting to prove that they have misled him during negotiations, his claims lack evidence and are easily dismissed. Fok begins to defend Ma and question his own witnesses. The judge attempts to stop Fok, leading to a clash where Fok argues that the prosecution should focus on those who are truly guilty rather than simply securing a conviction. This argument damages Ma's reputation with the jury, resulting in Chan being acquitted while Ma is convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to 27 years for showing no remorse.
Realizing his mistake, Fok seeks to help Uncle Ma, who initially rejects him until Fok saves him during an assassination attempt. Uncle Ma reveals to Fok that they hired Li based on a recommendation from Lau, the owner of the restaurant where Ma works. After learning about the assassination attempt, Bao agrees to help Fok investigate, leading them to discover that Yeung has been the prosecutor in every case involving Au. Bao infiltrates a nightclub owned by Lau and overhears a conversation revealing that Lau and Chan are half-brothers. They learn that one brother solicits people to lend their addresses for drug smuggling, while the other pretends to offer pro bono legal assistance through Li and Au, who actually have them take the blame. Fok assists Uncle Ma in applying for an appeal, but Ma is later assassinated in a cha chaan teng. With the half-brothers as the only lead, Fok approaches other victims and eventually locates a girl willing to testify against Lau. Knowing Lau is exposed, Au attempts to persuade him to turn himself in and take full responsibility. However, he is murdered by Sang and Tung, Au's drug lord associates. Meanwhile, Fok confronts Yeung, discovering Yeung's innocence, and the two sets their differences aside.
During the retrial, Yeung serves as the prosecutor and buys time for Fok, who seeks to locate the hiding Chan. With the help of Inspector Lee, Fok's former protégé, they find and convince Chan to testify. However, they are attacked on their way to court, resulting in Lee being severely injured. Fok and Chan continue to the courthouse by MTR, encountering Sang's assassins during the ride. Fok dispatches them all and manages to reach the courthouse, where Chan delivers his testimony against Au. Ultimately, Ma is acquitted, while Au and his syndicate receive appropriate sentences.
Cast
- Donnie Yen as Fok Chi-ho, a police detective-turned-public prosecutor
- Julian Cheung as Au Pak-man, a law-educated drug lord who runs a barrister's chamber
- Michael Hui as George Hui, a high court judge who presides over the drug smuggling case
- Francis Ng as Yeung Dit-lap, the chief prosecutor of the Department of Justice
- MC Cheung Tin-fu as Lee King-wai, a police inspector and Fok's former subordinate
- Kent Cheng as Bao Ding, the pupil master of the Department of Justice
- Lau Kong as Uncle Ma, Ma Ka-kit's grandfather
- Yu Kang as Kim Hung, Sang's lead assassin
- Adam Pak as Lau Siu-keung, a restaurateur serving as Au's right-hand man in his drug-trafficking syndicate
- Locker Lam as Chan Kwok-wing, a drug dealer and the second defendant in the drug smuggling case
- as Li Sze-man, a rising young barrister and the wife and accomplice of Au Pak-man
- Mason Fung as Ma Ka-kit, a young man from a low-income family wronged as the first defendant in the drug smuggling case
- Chu Pak Hong as Cheng Ho-yin, Ma Ka-kit's defense lawyer
Production
Development
The Prosecutor is loosely based on a real-life case from 2016, involving a teenager Ma Ka-kin, who was accused of drug-trafficking and misled into pleading guilty by his defense lawyer and legal executive in exchange for absolving the second defendant Hung Chi-him from charges. After the case received widespread media attention, the Center for Film and Television of Supreme People's Procuratorate initiated plans to adapt it into a film and approached and, marking the film as a co-production between Hong Kong and China. Initially, the film was set to be a traditional legal drama, with the Procuratorate comparing its vision to The Shawshank Redemption. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Raymond Wong and from Mandarin Motion Pictures conducted field research to assess the potential for the adaptation, including discussions with a group of barristers and investigations into drug-trafficking cases worldwide. Edmond Wong, the film's screenwriter, aimed to move away from the stereotypical courtroom dramas often depicted in television series, shifting the screenplay's focus towards crime investigation and creating the protagonist, Fok Chi-ho, a narcotics police detective who transitions to a public prosecutor to drive the story.In 2023, while in talks to produce a sequel to Flash Point, Raymond Wong showed Donnie Yen the screenplay of The Prosecutor and invited him to star as the lead. Yen initially declined, feeling unfamiliar with the legal drama genre, and hesitant to develop a film that echoed the commercially successful A Guilty Conscience. However, after two months of continued invitations from Wong, Yen finally agreed to join on the condition that the story be rewritten in "a style he was familiar with". Yen signed a deal for a total of three films with Mandarin Motion Pictures, which also included Ip Man 5 and a spin-off for SPL: Sha Po Lang. Among the earliest creative decisions Yen made was to invite veteran actors he admired to join the cast and transform combative dialogue into actual fight scenes, such as an argument between his character and that of Francis Ng. The original screenplay featured only a few fight scenes, with most action sequences added later at the request of the production companies.
Pre-production
and singer-songwriter MC Cheung Tin-fu were the first two cast members confirmed for the project, with Cheung being handpicked by Yen for a role he deemed suitable. During a meal, Yen recommended Cheung's songs to Raymond and Edmond Wong and suggested he be approached for acting. The film marked Cheung's first foray into action films, and he was initially hesitant to join due to concerns about his physique. Lau was cast by Yen after watching an interview of him and discovering that his real-life experiences closely resembled those of the character Uncle Ma. Yen also invited his friends and fellow actors Ray Lui and Mark Cheng for cameo appearances, with Lui accepted the offer without learning any details about the storyline beforehand, marking his third cameo in Yen's films after Raging Fire and Sakra. Kent Cheng, Sisley Choi, and Mandy Wong were cast at Yen's request, while Chu Pak Hong was chosen as the defense lawyer as the production team aimed to utilize his ability to bring humor to courtroom scenes alongside a veteran cast. The role of Fok Chi-ho's father was initially slated for a cameo by an established actor until Yen suggested casting his real-life father, Klyster Yen, a retired police officer. Raymond Wong was initially set to portray Judge Hui but later deemed Michael Hui more suitable for the role after further consideration. He reached out to Hui, who agreed to star in the film in exchange for just a cup of coffee after listening to Wong describe the story for five minutes. The 82-year-old Michael Hui initially requested action scenes to be written for him, but Yen declined his request. Wong also invited Liza Wang to make a cameo as the Secretary for Justice, explaining that Wang's casting choice was due to many Secretaries of Justice in Hong Kong are female.In May 2023, Mandarin Motion Pictures announced the development of a legal thriller under the working title Misjudgement at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, with Donnie Yen attached as the lead actor and Raymond Wong as the producer. Yen also served as the director and co-producer, while Wong was the primary investor. The film's budget exceeded HK$300 million. Yen made revisions to the production sets and action choreography before the production commencement based on his experiences from filming John Wick: Chapter 4, aiming to elevate the film's production values to match Hollywood standards. On 27 September, Yen confirmed that pre-production would soon be wrapped during the. In November, Julian Cheung and MC Cheung Tin-fu were announced in lead roles. Adam Pak was revealed to be part of the cast in the same month.