Chocolate (2008) - A Review

 

Chocolate is an amazing movie.

Chocolate is a Thai martial arts movie released in 2008. It stars Yanin "Jeeja" Vismitananda, Ammara Siripong, Taphon Phopwandee, Hiroshi Abe, and Pongpat Wachirabunjong. The movie was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, with fight choreography and stunts by Panna Rittikrai.

Jeeja Yanin plays Zen, a young autistic woman who is able to mimic the martial arts styles that she sees. At first she sees muay thai fighters training and starts mimicking and training like them. She sees Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies on TV and is able to mimic their styles. She even mimics Tony Jaa! Her friend Mangmoom, or Moom for short (played by Taphon Phopwandee), uses Zen's lack of fear, and skill in catching objects thrown at her, to make money on the streets. Zen's mother, Zin (played by Ammara Siripong), has cancer and can't pay for the chemo treatments or medicine. Moom finds Zin's book of people who owe her money, and decides to ask them for the money owed so he can pay for Zin's treatments. Well, Zen loves her mother very much, and won't take 'no' for an answer when the debtors refuse to pay. She beats up all the workers of the debtors/bosses that they encounter! This catches the attention of Number 8, the former crime boss of Zin and Musashi, Zen's father (played by Hiroshi Abe).

Zin writes a letter to Musashi (who is in Japan) warning him about what is going on. Moom gets kidnapped, and Zin and Zen go to confront Number 8 to get him back. As you can imagine, all heck breaks loose from there!

This is a very cool movie! I think it was so cool that even though Zen is autistic, she is not portrayed as weak. Yes, Zen has her fears, but she is not scared to stand up for herself or her family. Zen is a very strong and determined person!

There is a wide variety in action scenes. The first few fights are inspired by martial arts movie legends Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. The Bruce Lee scene takes place in an ice factory (if you know your Bruce Lee movies, you know what that's referencing). I will say, she has the classic Bruce Lee mannerisms down, but the fight scene isn't really Bruce Lee-like. She actually doesn't punch that much during this fight, and Bruce had some fierce punches in his movies. The Jackie Chan fight takes place in a warehouse, and Zen uses her surroundings in the fight. Pretty cool fight scene. The best fight scene in the movie, to me, is Zen's fight against Thomas, a B-boy who moves erratically. Thomas' timing and tempo of fighting confuses Zen at first, until she mimics his style. Really cool fight!

Of course, the movie footage of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan had to be removed, but if you are a martial arts movie fan, you will recognize the homages. The end of the movie also shows the outtakes where the stuntmen and Jeeja herself get injured. Thailand has some of the most brutal stunts in movies today, so it is important to see what the stuntmen go through when filming. I will tell you, I feel bad for the stuntmen in Thailand! 

So, should you see Chocolate? I would say yes! Jeeja Yanin is an amazing martial arts actress, and she struts her stuff in this movie fighting-wise, but also acting-wise! The movie starts off with a dramatic backstory for the characters, and ends up going crazy action-wise! The version I watched is the edited international version, so I really want to see the unedited Thai version some day. Nevertheless, don't miss out on this movie! Jeeja Yanin is really underrated and deserves more recognition.

Front cover of the DVD I watched for this review.

Back cover of the DVD.

The DVD disc. I need the unedited version of this movie on Blu-Ray!

Reviewed by David Williams