I just got this on Blu-Ray the other day, so I thought I'd review it. "Chocolate" stars JeeJa Yanin (who is a female Tony Jaa of sorts), who plays a young autistic girl (Zen) who is the daughter of a female Thai criminal (Zin) and a Japanese Yakuza. The father moves back to Japan to avoid conflict between himself and the Thai gang of the woman; this leaves Zin to take care of the autistic girl all by herself. The lady eventually gets sick (cancer, I presume), while the girl watches the neighbors doing Muai Thai and imitates their moves. Growing up, she watches Tony Jaa films and plays fighting video games -- which she imitates. Her best friend is a chubby kid named Moom. The hospital bills of her mom becomes a problem, so they need a way to make money. Moom finds Zin's old list of people that owe her gang money and tries to collect. Zen comes along and the fights ensue. Eventually the Thai gang captures Moom, so Zin, Zen and later the Japanese dad come to confront them.
Ok, now that I have the plot out of the way, it's on to the good stuff. This JeeJa Yanin girl (her Thai name is Yanin Matinanda) is up to par with Tony Jaa's moves! Though she does not have the power that he does, she is just as acrobatic. Truly breathtaking to watch. She seems really young, I'm sure she'll improve even more in time. Though, I wish she had better fight choreography. Especially during the first few fights. Way too many basic kicks during the ice factory scene. And it was a bit annoying how many Bruce Lee "waaaaahh's" she'd scream after every kick -- I know her character is autistic, but they could've cut some of it out. I did notice some speed up during some of the fights, as well as a little bit of wire work (during the final building scene, for safety reasons; but also during the fight in the Japanese restaurant). But it was minimal, and not overdone like some movies *cough, cough, modern Hong Kong kung fu flicks, cough* Don't get me wrong, this movie is filled with terrific fight sequences. She is easily the best female on-screen martial artist I've seen. And Yanin is a likeable actress; definite star potential. I liked the idea of an autistic hero. A much better plot twist than just getting back the head of a statue... ahem, Ong-Bak.
As I said, I purchased the Blu-Ray, so I'll comment a little on it. It comes with the original Thai language, as well as the English dub (though, I strongly recommend you avoid it -- terribly done). Of course it has English subtitles. The box says it has Spanish subs as well. The only real bonus feature is a "Making Of", which is an over extended version of the trailer with a few training scenes sprinkled in. The other "bonus feature" is a bunch of trailers for movies from Magnet studio -- pretty much horror/suspense flicks; has nothing to do with Thai martial arts flicks. Was hoping to see release info for Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong on Blu-Ray. Oh well.
In conclusion, I'd give this three and a half stars out of five.
"Chocolate" 2008
Starring: Yanin Mitananda (JeeJa Yanin)
Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew
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