Customer Reviews

Chocolate

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Chocolate is the perfect "acid test" to determine who are fans of action movies and who are not. How so? Let me explain. A true fan of action movies has the ability to overlook some flaws in film-making (e.g., script, acting, character development, etc.) if the action sequences are exceptional enough to make up for them. This is no different from fans of art-house dramas who can overlook minimal content if the film can portray everyday life in interesting ways. With that said, Chocolate is one of the best examples of an action movie that has such extraordinary fight sequences that they easily overpower any deficiencies in the script.

An autistic girl with martial arts skill attempts to collect on the debts of her sick mother. This movie is not well written, and requires some patience from the viewer to slug through the early moments. Once the 30 minute mark arrives, however, the viewer is treated to one of the most amazing displays of asskicking by a female protagonist in the history of action cinema. Virtually all of the remaining 50 minutes is devoted to high quality choreography and bone-crunching maneuvers. The settings and scenarios change frequently, thereby avoiding any feel of repetition or monotony. This is brainless action at its very finest. JeeJa Yanin - an amazing specimen with her fluid moves and hard strikes - catapults herself into the upper echelon of female action stars with this single movie. Her punches and kicks start off rather basic, but get increasingly more complex until they peak during the jaw-dropping finale that lasts a whopping 20 minutes. Lots of fun to be had here.

Now, a snobby moviegoer will cry about the negatives without even considering the positives. Anyone who does not enjoy the action in this movie seriously needs to get their pulse checked, or at least schedule for a re-alignment of their action movie tastes. There's nothing more scintillating than watching a cute girl kick the living hell out of hundreds (quite literally) of stuntmen in a variety of environments. Basically, if you're not entertained by this, you're not a fan of action movies. (You probably didn't like So Close or Azumi either, right?) Stop fooling yourself and go watch another Tsai Ming-liang film.

Some critics have claimed that this movie "ripped off" other movies. It didn't. There are a few homages that last a few minutes at most (a few Bruce Lee references, a locker scene reminiscent of Jackie Chan, and some footage from Tony Jaa's movies). These few scenes are only a drop in the bucket, because 95% of the action is independent of any references to other movies. The sign-post battle on the apartment complex balconies is one glaring example of a completely novel (and breathtaking) sequence that pays homage to no one but itself.

This is definitely worth a blind buy. True fans of martial arts mayhem will end up re-watching the action scenes about a thousand times.

My rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Premise
*An autistic girl learns martial arts through imitation, and uses her skills to collect money from some unsavory people who owe her mother, who is is need of medication (and was formerly associated with the Yakuza). Then the Yakuza retaliates, and all heck breaks loose.

The Good Things
*Video quality is almost perfect; it's very clean, sharp, and colorful, with only a couple of grainy scenes. The sound quality is pretty good.
*Includes a short 8-minute making-of featurette and a few trailers for other movies.
*Includes both English dubbing and the original Thai language track with optional subtitles.
*The movie has a lot of phenomenal fight scenes. They are extremely well-choreographed and distinctive. Judging from the outtakes, it also looks like they were made to be completely authentic, and the actors sustained some serious injuries in the process. Even though the fighting is fantastic, it's also very real.
*The movie is also very well-filmed, with lots of good camera angles and unique colors.
*Production design is good. Sets are interesting, costumes are good, props are good. Look out for one or two unique motifs.
*It looks like there were one or two homages to earlier films by Prachya Pinkaew ("Ong Bak" and "The Protector").
*The storyline is good and easy to follow. Aside from the action, it has some drama and emotional parts, but it's nothing too sappy. It's actually quite invoking, and seems to carry a strong message about love (believe it or not).
*The characters are excellent. The main character, aside from performing so many amazing stunts, shows some good compassion and emotion and makes the character believable. Other characters are great too.
*Music is good.

The Bad Things
*Not very many special features; it's especially dissapointing since the region-free British import seems to have deleted scenes and featurettes and other stuff. Oh well...
*Not for the squeamish; contains brutal violence, some blood, and some brief sensuality.

Thailand seems to be pumping out some of the coolest martial arts films these days, and "Chocolate" is probably my favorite of them all so far. Aside from boasting some incredible fight scenes and stuntwork, it is a surprisingly emotional story with strong characters. This Blu-Ray has exceptional video quality, and would highly reccomend it to any martial arts fan.

This film by the makers of Ong Bak, was both heartmelting, and spectacular in its choreography, featuring as centerpiece the new action star of Asia, Nicharee Yanin (Jeeja) Vistmantananda, who is nothing short of a wonder of the world. The plot of course is simple, focusing on the efforts of young Zen, (Jeeja) to recover funds owed to her cancer stricken mother from her days as a moneylender for a criminal gang, a mission which brings her into several violent confrontations with gangsters. The plot twist, which makes the whole film, is that Zen is an autistic savant, who has assimilated the techniques of the greatest martial artists whom she has watched on TV, from Bruce Lee, to Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and of course, Tony Jaa. (who helped train Jeeja for this part, a program which took her 4 years.) There are many things to criticize in this film, but these fall away quickly and are overcome with the escalating storm of adrenaline which kicks in, as Jeeja demolishes wave after wave of attackers using techniques which are right up there with the best in their execution and form. The one thing which explodes from the screen, is the ferocity and fighting ability which flows from the 5'3" 93 LB little Jeeja, who uses her lithe frame like a whip with a hammer on the end, bringing more power to bear with each kick and elbow strike than you can believe from someone so small, and so cute. She is also very authentic in her sensitive portrayal of an autistic girl, which she prepared for by spending time at a home for autistic kids to observe. For her acting debut, she is superb, and has a fantastic future ahead if she can broaden her audience to the West, and get some Michelle Yeoh type parts.

Chocolate [Blu-ray]

I went into this movie expecting a so-so movie with a girl that can do decent fight scenes. Well, the girl can do some awesome fight scenes. Using no stunt doubles and no wires, the only fake stuff in this move are the baseballs she catches (you can tell that it's 3D effects there). If she makes another movie, she could become as big of an icon as Tony Jaa.

As for the fight scenes, there are mainly around 4 really good leangthy ones, with the last one being really long and nonstop, taking place in multiple areas of a building, one inside with guns and samurai swords, another on the roof against a transvestite, a couple of women (the only women who actually fight the main character), and one other sequence that has to be seen to be believed, on the side of a building where Chocolate and the never-ending bad guys (seriously, there were too many, but that can be forgiven since it's a martial arts flick) duke it out on narrow ledges, big street signs sticking out of the walls of the building, and the side of a subway line only a couple yards away from the structure, easily connected by the street signs. 3 stories of 2D fighting goodness, and the people who fall take hits that will make you cring, including, but not limited to, a guy falling 3 stories straight down, while others hit a few obstacles on the way down (ouch).

It's also funny to see scenes from Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong (also great movies) on a television Chocolate watches, as well as hearing sound effects from Bruce Lee movies (supposedly). It's great in the first fight scene hearing her immitate Bruce Lee's hoowaaah-ooo! voice. That'll put a smile on your face.

Yanin "Jeeja" Vismistananda is good in her role, playing an autistic girl who learns from watching, fast. She was already a taekwondo practitioner before production, but then trained extensively for 2 years before the film shooting began, and another 2 years during the shoot. She is somewhere between the age of 21-24 during the filming of the movie.

For anyone who loves martial arts, they'll enjoy this. Anyone who wants to see a woman who can hold her own in these types of movies, definitely watch it. And one more thing, be ready for some bloopers at the end credits to show the real hits that the cast (including Chocolate herself) took during the shooting.

CHOCOLATE, named for its protagonist's favorite snack, is about an autistic young Thai girl who is a martial arts savant--parallel to the compensatory abilities of Dustin Hoffman's character in RAINMAN. Early in the film she takes on and defeats a gang of nasty kids. Next, she demolishes an array of deadbeats, who owe her sick mother money. Finally, as we can easily foresee, the evil gangsters who have split up her parents are going to be no match for her. (Telling you this is not "spoiling" the story--anyone who can count to three can see it coming.)

The excellently choreographed fight scenes have a sweet and fairly touching story around them. If you enjoy watching women "kick butt," Yanin Vismitananda (Jeeja Yanin), the star of this film, is sort of a tiny female Jackie Chan. Another big plus in my view is that this film is not pretentiously artsy and "meaningful" the way the excellent CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON was.

As a bonus feature, the DVD includes a rather short "making of" piece that shows just how dangerous its stunts really were and how amazingly athletic these people are!

A Thai production, "Chocolate" starring Jeeja Yanin takes us back to the good old days of martial arts films. With just enough story to be coherent and more than enough fight scenes for anyone interested in this genre, this is probably the "purest" martial arts film to be seen for some time. No magic items, no snazzy special effects, no high wire work, just a tiny little acrobatic woman kicking serious amount of bad guy fanny. That for me was it's greatest appeal.
Jeeja Yanin plays "Zen" an autistic young woman who's mother was at one time associated with the criminal underground. Zen's mother becomes sick, and to pay for medicine and care, Zen (with the help of her friend and her mothers book of markers) begins her attempt to round up the outstanding debts still owed to her mother. What no one realizes is Zen has the ability to learn a martial art simply by watching someone else perform it. This is the entire setup of the movie, and everyone that owes her mother money tries to brush little 90lb Zen off, or more foolishly, sics their own tough boys on her. Big mistake.
Without giving too much of the plot away (not that their is much plot beyond the original setup.) The joy of this movie is simply watching the fights. Look for homages to: Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and others in her fight scenes. The kicker of course is that Jeeja Yanin performed all of her own martial arts and stunts. And what stunts they are. There are times you'll find yourself shaking your head in amazement saying "How did she do that?" A truly fearless actress who is not afraid to take, or throw a punch. The fact that she pulls off a reasonable depiction of someone suffering from autism is just icing on the cake.
Not for everyone, this movie is violent, cruel in parts and a little depressing sometimes. In other words, not for children. But for those of us who remember the first time we saw Jackie Chan, and were amazed that an actor actually did all his own fighting and stunts, This may be the movie for you. Fast,nasty, and a whole lotta fun, "Chocolate" gets a 5 star from me, not for the story, or even for the acting in some cases, but for the fights and the star.
Look out Jackie Chan. A new action hero is born, She's Thai, about 5'4", and can put her foot right up side your head. Don't let the language barrier or the marginal localization stop you. See it soon so you can someday tell your friends: "Oh yea, I knew she was gonna be a star when I saw "Chocolate."
The best part is, you'll get to not only be smug and in the know, but it gives you an excuse to watch it again to see your friends amazed.

Ever since the international successes of Prachya Pinkaew`s "Ong-Bak" and "Tom Yum Goong" with Tony Jaa, the U.S. has been flooded by a lot of action films from Thailand. Most recently, are Jaa's mediocre earliest films such as "Battle Warrior" and "Spirited Killer" just to capitalize on the Muay Thai magic in movies. Prachya Pinkaew, now returns with a martial arts film that will be categorized in the "girls who kick butt" genre; "CHOCOLATE" is a film full of hard-hitting fights and amazing stunts. Newcomer Jeeja Yanin (sometimes credited as Yanin Vismitananda) has the skills to be dubbed the "female Tony Jaa"--after all, it is much easier to teach a martial artist to act than to teach an actor to do martial arts.

An autistic teenager named Zen (Jeeja Yanin) is a child born of an affair between a top-ranking Yakuza officer named Masashi (Abe Hiroshi) and a Thai woman (who was also a mistress of a Thai crime lord) named Zin (pretty Ammara Siripong). The Thai gang boss (played by Pongpat Wachirabunjong) doesn't appreciate the fact that the Yakuza is muscling into his turf and Masashi was forced to return to Japan and Zin is left to raise Zen by herself. Growing up, Zen discovers that she has an uncanny photographic memory, and she can imitate complex martial arts moves by watching the students in the Muay Thai school next door and by watching Tony Jaa and Bruce Lee's films.
As fate would have it, Zin becomes stricken with cancer and she needs money to pay for her medical needs. Aided by childhood friend, Moom (Taphon Phopwandee) they intend to capitalize on her quick reflexes and incredible agility in a sidewalk show and by collecting debts that a lot of folks owe her mother. Little do they know that the past is closing in on them and it will lead to a final resolution to the events that led to her birth.

Martial Arts films usually have a simple plot and "Chocolate" (labeled after Zen's favorite vice) is no different. The problems with the film is that the plot may be a little overreaching and seems a little silly. A lot of its elements are underdeveloped and the script is a little scattered. The film's main premise of an autistic teenager with amazing fighting skills requires a very large suspension of disbelief; I don't care how good your reflexes are or if you have a photographic memory, one can learn the moves but one cannot fully gain the fighting "savvy" or the experience of rolling or taking a punch. The film gets a little absurd, the villains are a bit comical; the Thai Boss' second in command is a transsexual with his own gang of transsexuals. I think the plot would have done better without these elements, that it should have developed its more human side with a lot of emotion since it does have the potential to do so.

The plot's hollow storyline aside, "Chocolate" is a visual mayhem of violence. Zen's opponents go from easy to medium, from hard to "VERY HARD"--it's almost like a video game. Jeeja has the necessary skills and I was very impressed with her athletic abilities. For a film like this, the action scenes need to be able to steal the show, and it does. The film is a stunt show, the fights are long and hard-hitting, they also get more violent as the film progresses; it displays Jeeja's martial arts skills to efficiency. Highlights include a very nifty meat market battle and the film's showstopper, the very stunt-ridden fights on the side of a building. Jeeja performed most of her stunts without wires, with absolutely NO stunt doubles and with this, I am very impressed. With the film's end credits, you'll see her sustain very real injuries when performing some of the stunts. Jeeja's performance acting-wise is decent for a newcomer, but it is clear that she needs to attend a few acting workshops.

The director also gives subtle tributes to Bruce Lee classics such as "The Big Boss" (the ice factory scene) and "Fist of Fury". There is also a cool animated "dream" sequence very similar to "Party 7" (which may also be a hint of Kill Bill?). There is also a very weird, quirky assassin who uses the Brazilian martial art Capoeira, who also wears a negative-colored track suit (Black suit with white stripes) as a tribute to Bruce Lee's "Game of Death". The near-climactic encounter also occurs in a setting very similar to "Kill Bill", and I found it very curious as to why Thai mobsters would use samurai swords.

Despite all the very cool fisticuffs, the film's dark tones, the film does seem a little too hollow. The film became overly ambitious, it's as if it couldn't decide whether to be dramatic or comical. However, I do hope to see more of Jeeja Yanin, she may not be as charismatic as Michelle Yeoh or Cynthia Khan, but hey, the actress is still young and she's still developing. The film may not be as bone-crushing as "Ong-Bak" or "Flashpoint"; "Chocolate" isn't as impressive as the best of Bruce Lee, Jet Li or Jackie Chan action films, but it is a satisfying enough martial arts film. The film is simply a stunt show, made to showcase Jeeja's amazing skills and fortitude--now, if she just goes to an acting workshop, she'll be awesome!

Recommended for action junkies and a good rental for everybody else. [3 ½ -Stars]

I'm copying my review from another page, though seeing this I might have to pick up the blu-ray copy as well!

I impulsively picked up a bootleg copy of Chocolate in D.C. without having seen a trailer or any production photos, or really even knowing anything about it other than it was from the director of Ong-bak and Tom yum goong -- both of which I loved -- and having a female star.

I don't know that I want to even try describing how unexpectedly thrilling and beautiful this movie was. The lead actress looks even younger than she does in the poster above. It all starts with her conception, and she slowly gets older as you see her childhood. I kept expecting another stage but it stops with her as a teen. So I watched a movie about an autistic teen girl who teaches herself how to fight and beats the crap out of dozens of Thai gangsters. The stunt work isn't as good as the two Tony Jaa movies I mentioned above, but it's still quite strong. It also has all the story and character development -- at least for the lead character -- that those two movies were missing. This humble reviewer was really moved by the lead character.

I've already said too much. I need lots of people to see this. NOW. I've been affected by this movie. I'm going to think about it for a long time. Please tell me someone else around here has seen Chocolate.

Although I have heard about his films for a number of years now, I have not watched a Prachya Pinkaew film. I, of course, know that his films Ong-Bak (2003) and Tom yum goong (2005) are supposed to make most Hong Kong action films look like child's play; however, it might be because of the hype that surrounds his films that I put off watching them. Yet, instead of watching Ong-Bak or Tom yum goong, I decided to watch Prachya Pinkaew's latest film Chocolate because of an Internet acquaintance's enthusiasm for the film and I must say that I was not disappointed with this hour and a half long bit of filmic action.

Chocolate opens with a confrontation between a Thai gang and a group of yakuza who seem to be trying to gain ground in the city. There is a standoff, but thank to a stunning, hard as nails woman named Zin, an uneasy peace is made between the two groups. Masashi, the head of the yakuza, becomes infatuated with Zin and they quickly strike up a steamy affair that comes to an abrupt end when Masashi becomes the target of the Thai gang. Zin protects her man, but is excised from the gang and soon breaks up with Masashi who quickly returns to Japan for his own protection thereby leaving the pregnant Zin behind.

Zin gives birth to a daughter who she gives the name Zen. A quiet, distant child, Zin soon learns that the little girl is autistic, but does her best to raise the girl as normally as possible. Later, she gains the help of Moom, an overweight, slightly effeminate guy whom she saved from bullying. After having a run in with her old gang, which costs her a big toe, Zin and family moves to a run down home where she hopes she can live in peace. However, she becomes afflicted with a deadly disease and now the livelihoods of herself and her daughter are in danger.

In order to make ends meet Moom and Zen put on a show in which he chucks balls at her as well as the audience members. With her senses honed by her autistic nature, she is able to catch the balls easily. However, one day a group of toughs throw a knife at her which she catches as well, slicing her hand in the process. However, she soon reduces the toughs to mounds of suffering and pain. As Zin's condition worsens, Moom finds a book of all the individuals who owe Zin money. Zen, only comprehending that her mom needs money for her stay in the hospital, unleashes upon the small time thugs. However, her activities draw attention to Zin's former gang, so can she and Moom keep up their money making plans without putting themselves in danger?

Let's face it. Those of us who watch Chocolate are not watching the film to see an intricately woven plot with a satisfying outcome. What we are here to see Yanin `Jeeja` Vismistananda kick gangster butt, and that is exactly what she does. After the weak plotline is established, Chocolate becomes nearly nonstop action sequence with the near invincible Zen beating up ice factory workers, butchers, and gangsters. Leaning heavy on its influences, Kill Bill, Zatoichi, and Hong Kong action cinema, Chocolate makes for some fluffy, mindless action fun.

Great movie, but the only English subtitles on the BluRay are for hearing-impaired people and have descriptions like "(men grunting)" and it's annoying as heck.
What were they thinking?
Stupid.
I'm returning the BluRay even though the picture quality is certainly better and getting the DVD.
4 stars for the movie, minus one for the idiotic subtitle decision by the studio.