Chocolate [2008] [DVD]

Jeeja Yanin Vismitananda plays Zen, a young autistic girl with the singular talent of being able to mimic with devastating effect any martial art style she sees played out on the screen. Her mother is the ex moll of a crime lord, and as she is now suffering from leukemia and requiring expensive treatment, Zen and her cousin go visiting all the gangsters who owe her mother money. Needless to say, they are less than willing to part with any until Zen starts kicking the hell out of them.It may not be a complex enough plot for some tastes, but one must remember that many stories in life are indeed sometimes simple and straightforward. What makes this film stand out however are the fight scenes and the female lead, Jeeja Yanin, who truly gave her very best.The making-of documentary extra is also of great interest, as it showed just how much goes into preparing each scene. As the participants did everything without resorting to special effects (a bonus these days), in order to convey proper realism, there were of course plenty of accidents. A full medical crew was on hand at all times to take care of all the bumps, bruises and breaks.Jeeja Yanin, whose background includes tae kwon do and gymnastics, spent two years training in various martial arts such as Muay Thai kick boxing and Gung Fu to prepare for the role. Each scene also involves fighting in unusual and difficult environments such as a factory, a slaughterhouse, and on the roofs and high ledges and even the neon lights of the city.Thai action movies already got rapt attention through previous productions such as Ong Bak and Warrior King. It is good to see Chocolate maintaining the same quality and kick.

I watched this expecting a really good fight scene, as I had watched ong bak and tom yum goong. I really didn't expect to find out more.It is introduced the mother of the girl and the history with the japanese vs the thai gangmembers. The affair between two characters resulted in the pregnancy of the mother. It then shows a jealous rival in the thai gang, shooting himself in the foot. After finding out that the girl is autistic, there was a horrific scene involving the mothers toe being cut off.The girl, watching martial art films, emulated the techniques what she saw. It was humbling as it showed perhaps in a good way, the possibilities of learning and applying in the perspective of an autistic child. There were scenes of her catching balls as they were thrown her. Her childhood friend also accompanies her.We then find out that the mother is going through chemo and needs money. The girl then goes to collect debts from people. My favorite scene is at the butchers, while she is afraid of flies, is still determined to get the money. There is also a scene of a toe in a sweet box....looks like a prune!Eventually the thai love rival finds out, and the japanese father also decides to return. The thai love rival then sends the 'transvesite angels' to intercept.The final scene is where the mother sacrifices herself to protect her daughter, the father reunited with the daughter and the daughter fighing to protect those she love most.Very good.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001EBO90G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1great movie, run time for this blu ray is 1 hour and 32 minutes. have not found a version of this movie yet that is 1 hour and 50 minutes. the dvd i had before was 1 hour and 28 minutes. the extra material is good. the same as written except i can't find Power Moves (Easter Eggs), it is either extremely well hidden or not there at all. don't trust run time written on sites or on back of the blu rays and dvds, both this blu ray and my former dvd says 89 minutes on the back. still great version of the movie and good extras so go for it, but if you are looking for the whole movie you will be disappointed.

Shakespearian acting and scriptwriting this is not however if you just enjoy it for what it is you find a rarther fun action movie that doesn't go on any longer than it needs to. It's your basic revenge against evil gang who wronged the protagonists family storyline but let's face it with a martial arts movie all you need to know is the bad guys need a good beatdown and the protagonist who is going to do the beating is Zen played by Jeja Yanin the autistic lovechild of a Yakuza member and a Thai gang member. In her first movie role and for a first role she plays a rarther difficult role as an autistic child but manages the role well and in the end it suits her because she doesn't have too much dialogue so she can just concentrate on her martial arts moves and acrobatics that she does with ease. Another good point about her is what you see on screen is what you get. No stunt doubles here she actually did all those things you see her do some of which is truely remarkable.So if you're a film critic wannabe looking for the next Cassablanca stay away from this film but if you like a fun movie where you can just turn off and enjoy the high flying antics of Yanin then go ahead and buy it since it's relitively cheap on DVD nowadays and well worth a few quid for 89 minutes of martial arts mayhem.

The actress is very talent in this role. Absolutely worth to see.

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.

Unsereiner, der seine Jugend und eigene Kampfsportzeit zu Lebzeiten eines gewissen Bruce Lee verbringen durfte, hat natürlich Erwartungen. Nun, die Trägerin des 3. Dan Teakwondo, die vor ihrer Schauspielerei auch Trainerin war, weiß durchaus zu überzeugen. Aber fangen wir vorne an. Zunächst punktet der Film durch die einfühlsame Bekanntmachung mit der Hauptprotagonistin. Die in der Rückblende aufgezeigte Entwicklung des autistischen Kindes wird weniger durch Dialoge, denn durch bewegende Bilder vollzogen und bleibt damit emotional haften. Ebenso die erwachende Neugier der Jugendlichen, welche - wie viele Autisten - mit besonderen Talenten versehen ist. Ihre ungewöhnliche Wahrnehmungsfähigkeit und schnellen Reflexe bringen sie in der Folge dem Kampfsport näher. Bis hierhin dürfte der Film den ein oder anderen Hauptsache-auf-die-12-Freund langweilen. Doch gerade dieser Teil des Films berührt irgendwie und verleiht selbigen einen gewissen Anspruch. Die Figur Zen gewinnt den Zuschauer auf diese Weise auch zweimal. Als schutzbedürftiges Kind und Außenseiterin zu Beginn und im weiteren Verlauf nochmals als Heldin. Ein Kompliment gilt somit auch dem Drehbuch und der Regie. Die Charaktere (Zen/Freund/Mutter) werden glaubhaft herüber gebracht und verbunden. Anerkennenswert auch ist die schauspielerische Leistung der 26-jährigen. Immerhin ist eine Autistin darzustellen bekanntlich nicht die einfachste Nummer im Mimen-Geschäft. Ungeschlagen bleibt hier natürlich Dustin Hoffman in Rainman - wobei er den Vorteil hatte, sich nicht auch noch erstklassig prügeln zu müssen ;-)Nachdem wir dann wissen wer diese Zen ist, darf Yanin auch ihre Kampftechnik zeigen - und überrascht erneut. Szenen aus Bruce Lee Filmen waren die letzten, die ich mir in Zeitlupe ansehen musste um zu erkennen, was er da gerade gemacht hat - und die Streifen sind immerhin 30 Jahre alt. Nun, bei Fräulein Vismitananda ist dies auch erforderlich, denn die Thai ist gut und schnell - auch wenn ihre Präzision unter der teils übertrieben akrobatischen Choreografie leidet, was in Filmen mit Tony Jaa jedoch ebenfalls der Fall ist. Besonders gefällt die Lässigkeit, mit der die 26-jährige den ein oder anderen schwierigen Angriff ansatzlos zum Kontrahenten führt. Beispielsweise bei ihrem ersten Kampfeinsatz, als sie einem der Gegner mit ihrer Puppe in den Händen normal gegenübersteht und diesem ohne Ansatz und Körperneigung ins Gesicht tritt. Ihr anschließend fragend unschuldiger Blick auf den am Boden liegenden Gegner - ob er sich denn noch rührt - hat eine gewisse Komik und erinnert dann tatsächlich an den legendären chinesischen Superstar. Choreografen und Stunt-Team haben ebenfalls gute Jobs gemacht, weswegen wir auch gerne über das Fehlen der Kampfsport typischen Effektivität und Präzision hinwegschauen.Apropos schauen: Yanin ist auch eine Hübsche und im Abspann kann sich der geneigte Zuschauer dann noch ansehen, was Sie und ihre Filmpartner während der Dreharbeiten so alles einstecken mussten. Kampfsportler wissen, dass es doppelte Konzentration erfordert, den eigenen Schlag/Tritt Zentimerter vor dem Treffmoment abzustoppen.Fazit:Ein Martial Arts Film der sich in meinen Augen aus dem Genre hervorhebt, da er kaum etwas falsch macht. Glaubhafte Charaktere und Handlung, gelungene Umsetzung, gute Hauptdarstellerin mit erstklassiger Kampftechnik. Yanin Vismitananda überzeugt in ihrem Erstauftritt und hat das Potential die größte Schwäche solcher Filme zu eliminieren, namentlich weniger Akrobatik denn mehr sehenswerte Kampftechnik zu präsentieren.Der Film ist eigenständig und damit schwer vergleichbar. Eben ein Mix aus "Todesgrüße aus Shanghai" und "Rainman" ;-))

Scneario travaillé pour une fois, le personnage principal est mimi et redoutable en baston, de très bonne scenes de baston à la ong bak, violente et bien foutues, bluray au top (image, bonus), attention pas de VF ici, que des sous titres anglais. Mais vraiment un super film pour fan du genre

I'm a big martial arts fan. I never ever of Yanin "Jeeja" Vismistananda as Zen, but I thought I'd give it a try. Not bad. She know a few moves!