Leofwine_draca CHOCOLATE is the latest offering to come from Thailand's top action directors: the same guys who brought us ONG BAK and WARRIOR KING. This film changes the mould slightly, with the shift from Tony Jaa to a new female lead actress, Jeeja Yanin, who seems just as skilled as Jaa to me. Otherwise it's business as usual, as our heroine takes on multiple bad guys in huge, brawling action set-pieces that get progressively more elaborate and more exciting as the story goes on. As for the story, it's a little more believable than in the other films, and the idea of having the main actress playing an autistic character is a brave one that ultimately pays off.However, this is a film all about the action and strictly one for the action fans. The first half hour makes for slow build up, with plenty of the melodrama you expect from these productions. Then we hit the first set-piece, a simple battle in an ice factory. This recalls THE BIG BOSS and is quite good, although Yanin's moves seem deceptively simple. The second time – a battle in a warehouse – and it's much better, with great style and great stunts. Yanin proves athletic and powerful and does some seemingly impossible stuff. The third set-piece is inside a butcher's, and is the best yet, with great use made of props – painful spikes, cleavers and all manner of implements ready to impale the unwary. By this time, so much emphasis has been made of the action, we're almost at the climax, which lasts for an incredible half an hour. It starts off with a rerun of WARRIOR KING's one-against-many showdown, as Yanin tackles loads of thugs, before moving into swordplay and some bloody deaths. All that's left is the lead villain to deal with – and I was ready for the film to be over; I'd already marked it 4 out of 5 in my head. Pretty good, if short.How mistaken I was. We have another full ten minutes out of this and it's the best part of the film – indeed the best part of any Thai film I've seen. Full of originality, this is yet another set-piece, set up in the air as Yanin tackles the bad guys on the outside of a building! It's an elaborate set that Jackie Chan would be proud of, as characters jump from sign to sign, get thrown through glass or just fall painfully to the ground. The hard-hitting stunts are powerful beyond belief and I had to immediately rewind this bit to watch it again – and I still can't get enough of it. What a brilliant ending! It makes the film and is something I'll come back to time and time again, even if I do end up fast-forwarding through the non-action stuff (not that I would really do that). CHOCOLATE is a great film and I hope we get more like this soon.

aequitas_veritas_007 Pretty much run of the mill martial arts movie from Thailand. I didn't go crazy over it like some people, but I didn't find it as bad as some either. A lukewarm 5/10 for this guy. The picture quality, editing, and script could use a LOT of work like most films from this location. The fighting scenes were fairly top-notch, though. If you watch movies like this for the story, as much as the action do not waste your time. If you watch simply for the fight scenes and nothing more, give it a shot. The acting chops of the lead girl are probably the best of the whole film. All sub-characters seem so annoying that I wish the story line hadn't existed at all. I will not be buying this on DVD. One view is more than enough for me.

Stephen Lindsay-Neale The narrative of this film follows much of the usual conventions of most heartbreak stories, forbidden love, gangsters and money. However the focus of the film then completely shifts to the story of the daughter of this forbidden love, with the introduction of its main character Zen. At birth we see her diagnosed with a brain deficiency that causes her to learn slower than other children, despite this seemingly life altering condition she becomes fueled at the thought of learning martial arts. While watching others practice around her and obsessively watching martial arts movies and learning as much as she can, she becomes ever more the fighting machine. When hard times befall her mother, who is seeking treatment for cancer, Zen and a friend try and get back money they find out she has been owed. Setting out against crooked businessmen she confronts hers fears and spares no punches to get the money to save her mother. This film brilliantly delivers a mix of story and action while at the same time managing to keep the feel of the action authentic, hard hitting, realistic and nothing over the top, as can sometimes be the case with even the best martial arts films. Demonstrating just how painful the stunts are in this film becomes especially obvious toward the end, where a montage of a few of the films more dangerous moments highlights the risks people will go to deliver a great action sequence. As someone who has always been a great fan of martial arts films this one has high praise from me for its uncompromising start from the beginning until the end.

Abyss47 JeeJa Yanin makes for one of the strongest and most believable heroines I've seen in an action film in a long, long time. On top of having screen presence and natural acting ability, she can kick some major ass without even breaking a sweat. Case in point."Chocolate" is full of dazzling fight sequences that are as brutal and hard-hitting as they are well choreographed and coherent. They get more and more creative as the film goes on before reaching a chaotic climax that takes full advantage of the actors' physical abilities.The story is a dramatic one, dealing with Zen's (JeeJa Yanin) quest to get the money that is owed to her family by various gangs in order to pay for her dying mother's hospital bills. Zen has a problem of her own. She is autistic and emotionally unstable. She is able to use this to her advantage, though, as her reflexes are incredibly precise and more advanced than the average person's. She spends some of her time watching martial arts movies, and she's able to pick up on the various moves she sees in the film, which carries into her own move set.I haven't read too deeply into the issue of autism, but the film seemed to treat it with care and respect; nothing came off as laughable.The film's photography has a washed out look that I wasn't necessarily the biggest fan of, but I suppose it works in the long run, given the film's moody subject matter and melodrama.Another thing I liked about the film was the severe lack of slapstick and goofy humor. I've seen to many martial arts films that are full of this sort of thing, and it usually comes off as more annoying than funny.Director Prachya Pinkaew also made such martial arts flicks as Ong-bak and The Protector, which are somewhat modern classics in the Asian film community. I haven't seen them yet, but if they're as well put together as Chocolate, I see no reason why I would dislike them.Despite the film's many strengths, it was hard for me to find it amazing. It's probably because I've already seen movies like this and was expecting something truly groundbreaking for the genre. Either way, it works.JeeJa Yanin is undoubtedly the film's greatest assets, and it'll be interesting to see what future projects she takes on. Hopefully they take full advantage of her talents more often than not. Seeing her fight, I was reminded of past female martial arts experts such as Yukari Oshima (My personal favorite) and Moon Lee. She even has a similar look to these women. So it's great to see a somewhat younger version of them living up to their legacy.Well, fans of the director's other work and martial arts films in general should give this a look, if only to witness a fresh new talent with a bright future ahead of her.