Jakarta. Ip Man’s Donnie Yen recently released his court thriller “The Prosecutor” that the Hong Kong actor starred in, directed, and also produced. This movie gives the audience some action both inside and outside the courtroom.

“The Prosecutor” follows a quite straightforward plot told at a quite good pace. Ma Ka Kit (Mason Fung), a young man from a low-income family got entangled in a drug smuggling case. Yen plays the good guy Fok Chi Ho, former policeman who is now working as a prosecutor. Fok senses something is wrong with Ma Ka Kit’s sentence. The poor boy got tricked by fraudulent defendants, which led to Ma Ka Kit having to be behind bars for decades. As Fok tries to save the wrongfully accused Kit, he wages a war against Hong Kong’s drug lords.

The movie starts by taking the audience to Fok’s policeman era before it switches to a montage of the cop switching careers. It is also quite hard to tell what is going on at the beginning. But the story gets better after we see Fok the prosecutor in action in the courtroom. Yen shows off his martial arts skills as Fok takes on the criminals, oftentimes single-handedly. He also uses a first-person shooter style in the shootout scene early on in the film.

Despite being an action movie, the film's biggest charm actually lies in the court scenes. The arguments are somewhat reminiscent of the popular lawyer video game franchise “Ace Attorney”. Yen even included some explanations on the legal terms at the beginning of every court scene, so the viewers can have an idea of what is happening despite not being a law student.

“The Prosecutor” managed to slip in some heartwarming moments with Ma Ka Kit’s grandpa (Lau Kong). The old man is worried that he would not be alive by the time his grandson gets out of prison. He eventually bonds with Fok after the latter saves his life from criminals. But the grandfather gets killed by the crooks when dining out with Fok. The prosecutor is on a bathroom break when the murder happens (although Fok should have heard the fighting that is taking place in the next room). While his death is quite expected as a plot device, it is still sad to see the old man go.

“The Prosecutor” is already playing in Indonesian cinemas. This movie can be one of the many alternatives to spend the New Year’s holidays.

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