Chocolate

The story of Chocolate starts off with Zin (Ammara Siripong), a women caught up in a sorta love triangle between ex boyfriend and Thai gangster No. 8, (and yes, No. 8 is his name!) and Japanese Yakuza boss Masashi. (Hiroshi Abe) Zin digs Masashi more than she does the overly jealous No. 8, (Pongpat Wachirabunjong) which of course causes some "issues"…and it can’t help that Masashi is Japanese either. To keep everything kosher, it’s decided that Masashi will go back to Japan, and he and Zin will no longer keep in contact with one another…or else. Reluctantly, Masashi does what is asked, but not before a little bit of the old in and out occurs between Masashi and Zin, thus causing Zin's belly to swell with her baby daughter Zen. Shortly after her birth, it is learned that Zen (Yanin "Jeeja" Vismistananda) has autism, and it will be a lot of extra work for Zin to raise her. As Zen grows older, she spends much of her time scoping out the Muay Thai school next to her home and watching a ton of Martial Arts films, all the while wolfing down her snack of choice M&M's. This is where the balance of Zen's handicap shows, with lightning fast reflexes and the ability to retain all of the fighting moves she has seen in films and from watching the students practicing at the neighboring Muay Thai school, Zen constantly practices the fighting styles that she has become enamored with over the years. And you know what? She's getting pretty damn good at it too.

Zen's cousin Moom, (Taphon Phopwandee) has been making some money off of Zen's abilities by having people on the street throw balls at her from different directions, which she catches with out any hint of effort whatsoever. Later on it is learned that Zen's mother Zin is sick with cancer, and they cannot afford the expensive treatments to keep her alive, some of the street performance money goes to her treatments, but it's not nearly enough to pay for the medical cost. Moom eventually stumbles upon a old book from Zin's "bangin" days, that's filled with debts that are owed to her. With this new found knowledge, Moom and Zen set out to collect these debts to help pay for Zin's treatments, only problem is…no one wants to pay up. Now it's up to Zen and her unique fighting abilities to take care of business, and all this business that Zen is taking care of eventually gets the attention, and ticks off No. 8 which brings the violent man back into there lives, and not in a positive way either.

With a stateside DVD release early in 2009, Chocolate is a Thai Martial Arts film directed by Prachya Pinkaew, and stars first time actress Yanin "Jeeja" Vismistananda aka Jeeja Yanin (I'll call her Jeeja to save brain power) as our main character Zen. Jeeja, who has a background in Tae Kwon Do, was discovered by Pinkaew while casting for the film Born To Fight in 2003. Being impressed with her talent and presence, Pinkaew went on to write Chocolate with Jeeja in mind as the lead in the action heavy Martial arts film. Only showing in a few major cities about 4 days before the February 09' DVD release date, the miniscule theatrical run for Chocolate is a bummer since it would have been nice to see this one up on the big screen. With the duo of Panna Rittikrai behind the fight choreography and Pinkaew behind the lens, who are the same duo behind the two U.S. Tony Jaa films, 2003's Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior, and 2005's The Protector aka Tom Yum Goong. Both films brought in a little cash in there theatrical runs, with 4.5 million for Ong-Bak and a hair over 12 million for The Protector. So it is kinda surprising to me that Chocolate didn't make it into more U.S. theaters since both of those films were semi-successful. For the record, I would have seen it twice.

Chocolate is a very fitting title for this movie, since that is exactly what was left in my pants after seeing the film for the first time, and I just have to say right off the bat that Chocolate is easily one of best (for me at least) modern M.A. films that I have seen in quite some time. The sometimes sappy story is pretty good and is kinda sorta original, the character development is also admirable as I actually felt compassion for some of the protagonist's in this film. But with all that wimpy silliness aside, what I really came here for is some dope ass action, and some amazing fight sequences, which Chocolate most certainly delivers on in spades. Just starting off with how solid this film is shot, Pinkaew shows how good of a director he is by giving you something to look at visually at all times. Even when there isn't any of the sexy action happening on screen, the film has a nice sense of style and at times even a "hint" of brilliance. When the action happens however, it is just an amazing thing to watch Chocolate and its bad ass brawling character. Rittikrai's choreography never feels staged, is simply breathtaking, and aesthetically has a very realistic style with the throw downs, almost like it has minimal wires and no CGI used…which was the case with Ong-Bak. Some shots hold long with minimal cuts in some of the best moments of the film, but when the cuts do happen, they are almost masterfully done. The editing in Chocolate is SO tight, truly something to witness for any fan of cinema, not once did I feel lost in a sequence, or confused as to who was doing what. Every fight set piece is diverse, nice to look at, and has a different overall feel from one another. Fittingly, the fighting styles and how they're shot also slightly adapt to the different settings in a nice way. Outside of the sometimes bloody fighting sequences, Chocolate is a pretty violent film at times, at least with its tone and feel. Maybe even if the fighting was replaced by gun play scenes, Chocolate could even possibly work as a straight Gangster/Yakuza film. However, Chocolate does full on deliver as an overall Martial Art's film as each and every fight scene is just amazing, and even the lesser fights are pretty solid and only lesser in comparison to some of the stronger fights in the film.

As obvious from my ramblings up above, Chocolate has a lot of positive things for me to like about it, but my favorite aspect of Chocolate by far is star "Jeeja," who’s character Zen in the span of 92 minutes, has became one of my favorite M.A. characters that I have been lucky enough to witness on screen. I just love the character of Zen, I think she is completely adorable, the simplistic way she dresses is cute for some reason, I love how she interacts with her surroundings, and just watching her whale on M&M's while watching Tony Jaa films is just so…so fucking cute! Having Zen be autistic really added to the characters effectiveness for me too, makes you root for her as she is the ultimate underdog, or so it seems that way at least. Just having a character with what is a simplistic, yet complicated mind, a mind able to comprehend and mimic fighting styles and techniques, while having reflexes faster than a person with fast reflexes,(?) but also having a mind not able to comprehend why her sick mother Zin, can’t take her out for a day at the park. This all makes for something a little deeper than your average action hero/heroin, and Zen is a character that I really truly loved watching. Her fighting style is something else, and she progressively gets better, more comfortable and even more confident in her abilities as each fight passes. Her use of her surroundings is as impressive as some of the best I have seen in this type of film, and every time she made a move…I was captivated. In what is one of the more interesting fights at the end of the film, we see her actually adapt to, comprehend, and mimic a characters fighting style (similar to the inspirational B-ball dance scene from Honey at 1:43) after she initially has a hard time against him. Zen's motivation is nice and simple, collect the debts from the people in Zin's past, and with enough cash, her mother can afford the treatments to help fight her cancer and keep her out of the hospital. This motivation is also more than enough to turn Zen into an almost unstoppable fighting machine, hell bent on making her mother better again, no matter what the danger and stakes may be.

Jeeja does an admiral job of playing Zen, and her portrayal of a girl with autism is pretty good, especially considering this is her first film, as it's a lot to ask from an actress new to the game. This girl is a star, plain and simple, a girl that can keep up with the best of them, she is super cute and has a good look, a look that can be very intimidating to say the least. Outside of her Tae Kwon Do training, Jeeja did two years of extensive fight training with choreographer Rittikrai, and her dedication sure as hell shows. This girl is a straight up beast…no other word could fit any better, when Jeeja throws down it is an awesome thing to watch, as she is able to handle some serious stunts and pulls them off without a hitch. My favorite is when she cracks someone with an elbow or a knee, she does so with such authority and force that it's hard to not wince at the sheer strength that she possesses in such a tiny little frame. Simply put…I love this character, I love this actress, and I can only hope that this is just the beginning for such a talented young lady as my radar is now set to "Bad ass bitch." I checked around and found very little about the next film that she is attached to work on, only that it is brought to us by Rittakrai, and will be a romantic action film. I also wouldn’t be surprised with the reception that Chocolate has gotten, that a Chocolate II is somewhere down the pipeline…or at least that's what I hope.

Chocolate's U.S. run time is 92 minutes, which is down considerably from the original 110 minute Thai release. Normally something like this would really nag at me, but Chocolate has a great pace and I am obviously more than happy with the film as is. If I bump into the Thai full length release of Chocolate at a convention sometime, I will be sure to pick up a copy for myself. I will however just go ahead and say that I straight up LOVED this film, and I bought into every aspect of Chocolate, hook, line, and sinker. I also have found myself a new female Martial Artist in Jeeja to eagerly follow, and look forward to her many future endeavors. Jeeja is a major reason why I enjoyed this film as much as I did, her charisma and ability is something that I truly appreciate, and there is very few things that I love more than a female Martial Artist that can really hold her own. No joke…I could go on forever about Chocolate, and I feel like I left a ton out of this write up with some of the other relationships going on in the movie. Shit, I didn't even bring up the brief Anime sequence, or the Transvestite gang, (oh yeah, your favorite…Trannies!!) but long winded already I am, and I would have to attest that to how much I truly enjoyed this movie. I cannot recommend Chocolate nearly enough, and If you are even just a mild fan of Martial Arts films, you owe it to yourself to see Chocolate as soon as possible, and to witness this new action hero/bad ass mother fucker Yanin "Jeeja" Vismistananda for yourself. If you don't, then you will get a sick ass sliver…in your eye!! (Okay, maybe not)