Chocolate (2008)

Chocolate (2008)

Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew

Starring: JeeJa Yanin, Hiroshi Abe, Pongpat Wachirabunjong

Chocolate, not to be confused with Chocolat, is a kung-fu action flick in the style of Ong-Bak. In fact, it’s by the same director as Ong-Bak and The Protector, and the main character learns kung fu by watching those two movies (a little strange, sure, but she’s a strange character).

Chocolate is about an autistic girl who has incredibly fast reflexes and can learn things almost instantly just by watching them. Think Rain Man but with kung fu. Anyway, she and her brother spend the film looking up her mom’s old mob contacts to try and get the money they owe her so she can pay for chemotherapy for her cancer. Of course, the gangsters tend to not to want to pay their debts, so they get ample faceloads of autistic girl kung fu fury.

The action scenes are, obviously, quite similar to Ong-Bak‘s style… because it’s the same style. However, instead of having Tony Jaa slam into someone knee first, you’ve got this little 90-pound girl doing the same thing, with more or less the same effect. However, when Jaa does it, it HURTS to watch… not so much with this girl. Honestly, that’s really my only complaint with the action; it’s mostly awesome.

It does take a little while to get to the action, but the story is actually fairly interesting (if a bit confusing at the beginning when time is elapsing in leaps and bounds), and it’s more than enough to keep you watching until the ass-kicking begins. Hell, it’s a way better story than The Protector. I guess what I’m saying is if you liked those two movies, or just kung fu (that doesn’t involve wires and elaborate fantasy settings), then you should take a look at Chocolate.