Chocolate Movie Review
Directed by Prachya Pinkaew
Starring newcomer sensation Yanin Vismitananda
I had pretty high expectations for this movie. I saw several positive reviews and the trailer looks kick ass. Also Pinkaew's last two movies were the Tony Jaa action fests Ong Bak (Muay Thai Warrior) and Tom Yum Goong (The Protector). While not up to par of either one of those movies it still had plenty of kick assedness to satisfy my martial arts thirst.
The story is basically just a set up for the action scenes. Its about this autistic girl (Zen) that learns martial arts by watching old Bruce Lee and Tony Jaa movies. She has heightened senses and quickly becomes a martial arts master. Her mother and father used to be gangsters and they fled separately to avoid a gang war. Her mother who has cancer is raising the daughter on her own. The autistic girl and her fat cousin (friend?) go on a mission to collect old debts so they can raise money for their mother's medical treatment.
My favorite part of the movie are the action set pieces. The first fight is in an ice factory which is one of the weaker fights. The second occurs in a warehouse which is better. The third fight occurs in a slaughter house which is my favorite of the movie. This one scene where this guy kicks and misses Zen and his foot gets caught on a meat hook is fucking brutal. He is left there hanging off the table, dangling by the hooks. The final fight I originally thought it was going to be anti climatic but the fight goes from a room with sword fighting to the outside where Zen chases "the baddie" and fights dozens of goons on the ledges of buildings and on top of the neon overhanging signs.
What is stopping me from giving this movie a higher rating? I dont mean to sound sexist but Yanin however skilled, is still no Tony Jaa. She does a lot of the same moves but just with less speed and a lot less power behind it. Also in several of the scenes she is obviously aided by wire. Not a lot, but enough to take you out of the movie a little bit. Having said that she does a few moves and kicks that were totally original and had me grinning ear to ear. Who cares the story lacked, there was at least enough action to keep the movie flowing at a decent pace. Im definitely looking to hear more from Yanin in the future. One thing I did love was the use of deadly weapon fighting. There seem to be more deaths and cool kills then his previous movies.
A solid martial arts movie that gets my recommendation. On a scale of 1-10 I give this a throwing meat cleaver and bouncing off fence and stabbing myself 7.1 out of 10.

Speaking of Chocolate