Chocolate is a movie that I rented with the idea that it was going to be really bad. I mean, when a film centers around an autistic girl who has a special knack for learning martial arts, you just expect it to be exploitative and ridiculous. But I needed a martial arts fix, and my only other choices were 1970s Shaw Brothers films, so I decided to give this a try. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Chocolate was actually a pretty enjoyable film. The main character's autism is treated in a mostly believable fashion. It's certainly not a touching drama about the difficulties of life with learning and social disabilities, but it also wasn't the insulting schlock-fest that I expected. The main character Zen is the daughter of a female Thai gangster and a male Yakuza who met during a turf war between their two gangs. Their forbidden romance causes a lot of trouble, as the leader of the Thai gang feels he has some claim over the woman, and in the end, the Yakuza leaves before finding out that his lover is pregnant. As such, she's left to raise her special-needs daughter on her own. Eventually, she ends up stricken by cancer. By this time, the Zen is a teenager, and she and her best friend (a chubby boy who I think was named Mangmoom) have a street show where she catches thrown objects with shocking speed and precision. This was bringing in enough money to pay the bills, but it won't cover Mom's cancer treatment. What to do? Not realizing Mom's criminal past, the two youngun's find her old book of people she used to collect protection scam money from, and assume it's a record of authentic debts. This sets off the main plot of the movie, where the two go around to various businesses trying to ask for the money that's owed, and then Zen goes crazy and beats people up when they say no. This leads to exciting fight scenes in warehouses, butcher's markets, and other dangerous buildings. This is where the movie really shines. Zen learned most of her martial arts by watching the films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Tony Jaa, so we get to see her emulate all of their fighting styles as the movie progresses. The actress JeeJa Yanin (working under the name Yanin Vismitananda) really impressed me with her skills as a martial artist and acrobat. ONE OTHER THING THAT I'D LIKE TO NOTE ABOUT THIS MOVIE IS THAT MANGMOOM RECEIVES A MUCH BETTER PORTRAYAL THAN A LOT OF FAT CHARACTERS IN MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES. HE'S A KIND AND COMPASSIONATE YOUNG MAN, WHO DOES HIS BEST TO TAKE CARE OF ZEN AND HER MOTHER. WE NEVER SEE HIM STUFFING HIS FACE OR ACTING LIKE A BUFFOON, AND HE ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTES TO SOME OF THE FIGHT SCENES BY BEING CLEVER OR OPPORTUNISTIC TO MAKE UP FOR HIS LACK OF MARTIAL ARTS. CHOCOLATE ALMOST APPROACHES THE FUN LEVEL OF JACKIE CHAN'S FILMS FROM THE 90S. THOUGH THE STORY HAS ITS SERIOUS ELEMENTS, THE FIGHT SCENES HAVE A CERTAIN BRUTAL SENSE OF FUN TO THEM, AND THE SAME SORT OF FRENETIC ENERGY. THAILAND SEEMS TO BE GROWING AS A SOURCE OF ENJOYABLE MARTIAL ARTS FILMS, AND I HOPE THAT THEY CONTINUE TO PRODUCE THIS SORT OF SLIGHTLY SILLY BUT ENTERTAININGLY VIOLENT MOVIE.

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Copyright © 2009 By AJ Reardon E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.com