Big Fat Film ReviewMore Like A Jaw Breaker
It's rare for a martial arts films to come up with something new, it seems like everything has been done, but Chocolate manages to pull a few new tricks out of it's trick-or-treat bag. The film follows the story of Zen the autistic love child of Zin (the girlfriend and partner of a Thai mobster) and Masashi (a Japanese gangster). Living with her mother, who has been forced to live in exile and apart from Masashi, Zen obsessively repeats the martial arts practices she watches at the Kung-Fu school next door. Increasingly consumed with martial arts movies and M&Ms Zen comes to the rescue of Moon, a chubby kid who she becomes inseparable friends with. When Zin gets cancer and can't afford the the hospital bills Moon stumbles across Zin's old mobster ledger and decides to collect the money she is owed. Not realizing they are collecting on mob debts things quickly get out of control and Zen's hidden talents as a martial arts savant explode as she fights wave after wave of street thugs and gangsters leading to an ultimate showdown. Directed by Prachya Pinkaew, director of Ong-Bak (2003), it's not surprising that the martial arts choreography in the film is amazing and the scenes and staging for the fights are original and fresh. The other great thing about this movie is that the story is heartwarming as well as being a great underdog revenge story. So even if you are not a huge fan of martial arts films it has a good story that is usually missing in this genre. Enjoy.