Imagine Ong-Bak or The Protector with better production values and a young girl as the main character instead of Tony Jaa. That's Chocolate, in a nut shell.
As a martial arts movie, it's not bad. Zen is an autistic girl who has the amazing ability to perfectly copy the fighting moves that she sees, be they on television or from watching students practice across the street from her house. And she uses them to great effect to help her mother get the money she needs for her expensive medicine, as well as to fight off various thugs and bad guys from her mother's past. The fight scenes are pretty good, even though really the only thing separating them from the fight scenes in the movies I mentioned earlier is that the impressive attacks and acrobatics are being done by JeeJa Yanin instead of Tony Jaa. She clearly is quite talented at fight choreography and acrobatics, and she's not a bad actress, either. Playing a person with a disorder with as many variations as autism can be a tricky thing, but I think she did pretty well.
My main issue with Chocolate is that it's a less brutal movie than Ong Bak, and because of that, the novelty of the unique situation of the main character is really the only thing that sets it apart from the many other decent martial arts flicks that are available. It's solid fun the first time around, but there's not enough here to warrant additional viewings.
As a martial arts movie, it's not bad. Zen is an autistic girl who has the amazing ability to perfectly copy the fighting moves that she sees, be they on television or from watching students practice across the street from her house. And she uses them to great effect to help her mother get the money she needs for her expensive medicine, as well as to fight off various thugs and bad guys from her mother's past. The fight scenes are pretty good, even though really the only thing separating them from the fight scenes in the movies I mentioned earlier is that the impressive attacks and acrobatics are being done by JeeJa Yanin instead of Tony Jaa. She clearly is quite talented at fight choreography and acrobatics, and she's not a bad actress, either. Playing a person with a disorder with as many variations as autism can be a tricky thing, but I think she did pretty well.
My main issue with Chocolate is that it's a less brutal movie than Ong Bak, and because of that, the novelty of the unique situation of the main character is really the only thing that sets it apart from the many other decent martial arts flicks that are available. It's solid fun the first time around, but there's not enough here to warrant additional viewings.