Chocolate (2008)

This is a movie only Steven Seagal in his infinite stupidity would come with. Terminator autistic girl that doesn't get his ONCE, unnecessary bad guys that attack at once just for the main character to have a change to beat them and bullshit revenge/justice scenario, is this good...NO ! Sometimes the film is trying to make funny situations but fails terribly, the main character (although is an autistic) it's barely likable, I couldn't feel nothing for the main characters.Don't dare to compare this to a Jackie Chan movie, big mistake. Only the transsexual mobsters where interesting looking choice and the martial arts choreography, if you are after that, maybe that's your thing, but not mine.

So I was over at my friend's house one weekend and we were watching a bunch of crappy movies, and on one of the DVDs -can't remember which title it was, but it was released by Magnolia Pictures and Magnet- there was this trailer that caught my attention. The basic story was about this ass-kicking Asian girl who was getting her revenge on a bunch of people who wronged her, or so I thought...I really couldn't remember because I was mesmerized by this hot little Asian girl who was kicking some major ass in the trailer. I didn't really pay much attention to the name of the movie, but I remembered thinking "Man...I really want to see that movie" and then I promptly forgot about it until a few weeks later. My friend and I were out at chain DVD and Blu-ray store that specializes in selling mostly used product that other people trade in -betcha can't guess which one I'm talking about-. So anyway, there we we're checking out their selection of used Blus and I suddenly remembered that trailer, but as I said before, I didn't remember the name. He couldn't remember either, but not to worry, he breaks out his smart phone and he does a Google search for recent martial arts flicks with female stars and he finds a trailer for a movie call Chocolate -not to be confused with that chick flick Chocolat starring the very popular Johnny Depp-. He shows me said trailer and asks if that was the movie I was thinking of...and it was. So we checked to see if this place has it, and not too surprisingly they don't. But another nearby BIG BOX store, whose employees wear blue Polo style shirts and khaki pants, did. So we rushed right over and bought it.So what exactly is this movie called Chocolate about? My original interpretation of the trailer was only partially correct...she is a hot Asian chick and she kicks a ton of ass in it. However the revenge aspect was off. The actual plot is simple: real-life, human anime looking Yakuza man and hot Thai dragon lady crime lieutenant fall in love, but both of their organizations kinda hate the fact that they are together. So they split up and go their separate ways, but not before she ends up pregnant. She decides to leave her life of crime behind and raise their autistic offspring -dragon lady smoked a lot and this of course caused some defects- on her own. She gets a normal job at a restaurant and somehow adopts a homeless boy who gets picked on by all the local bullies because he's fat and has bad acne. As our heroine Zen grows up -eventually into Jeeja-, she watches the young, neighbor boys practicing the deadly martial art Muay Thai in the courtyard of the housing complex her family lives in, and she starts mimicking their moves. She also loves watching old Tony Jaa movies and playing martial arts fighting games. Flash forward a few years and both she and her adopted brother Moom are in their mid teens and he's hustling for money on the streets by taking advantage of Zen's incredible speed, agility, and talent of catching balls flying at her head.So as it turns out, all those years of smoking have caught up with the hot Thai dragon lady and she gets cancer. But alas they are very poor and cannot afford treatment. So one night while Zen is playing video games, Moom finds the dragon lady's old collections book from back when she was still a mafioso, and he opens it and sees that a whole bunch of people owe her some serious cash. So he and Zen go visit these people to ask if they can pay their debts to the dragon lady so they can use the money for her cancer treatment and much high jinx ensues. Basically all of those years of studying Muay Thai from afar pays off and Zen goes on a rampage to get "Mommy Money." So why is the movie called Chocolate? Well the only thing I can figure is that Zen loves these little M&M type candies a whole bunch. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. The plot of the film may come off as pretty weak, but trust me, it is well worth your time to watch...if nothing else than to watch the lovely Jeeja Yanin kick some ass!

After Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong with Tony Jaa, Prachya Pinkaew moves towards "Chocolate", this time with a remarkable female lead JeeJa Yanin.Chocolate is about a bedridden mother (Ammara Siripong) and her autistic daughter (Yanin Vismitananda) with impeccable martial art skills. She goes on a rampage to collect the money from those who owe her mother (to cover her medical expenses).First 30 minutes take the story and characters to develop and you will see how Zen learns to kick the ass i.e. by watching The Protector (2005) and Ong-bak (2003). You will be amazed by her ability to pick-up the moves by just observation and applying them. She grows into a warrior, who can defeat 50 fighters nonchalantly.While Yanin did most of her own stunts and you will love the fight at the abattoir. The choreography is breathtaking and action is all over with a breathtaking pace.It is highly recommended that you watch this to the credits and the scenes will leave you dazed, how these actors perform the stunts and risk their lives to meet the perfection? You will appreciate their meticulous work in every frame of the movie.Highly recommended My vote 8/10

What a film ! I had no idea this film was made by the director of Ong Bak so everything turned out as a most brilliant surprise.If you want to read the best review of this film read the one from EBOSSERT on 14-May-2008. It says everything there is to say about this film. Basically, if you like action films, this is one of the very best action films I have ever seen and the storyline isn't bad either. The action sequences are just fantastic, and made even more fantastic because of the natural empathy one has for Zen, that girl !! I am already getting ready to watch this film a second time - that's how good the action was !