After spending so much time on Kung Fu and Samurai films, I felt it was time for this column to branch out into one of the hot new areas of martial arts film. After Tony Jaa burst onto the scene some years ago, Muay Thai has become one of the hot new martial arts. I honestly believe that Chocolate is one of the best martial arts films of any style. Without any doubt, it is my favorite Muay Thai flick.
Chocolate is about a girl, Zen, with autism who learns how to fight by living next to a gym and watching tv. Zen's mother is diagnosed with cancer. Zen and her friend decide to track down names of debtors they find in one of her mom's old ledgers. The problem? Zen's mom used to be a gangster, and the men Zen is tracking down still are.
Admittedly, Chocolate doesn't have a very good plot. The inclusion of Zen's autism is strange and probably a little misguided, as is another disabled person introduced near the end of the film. I will even concede that the first thirty minutes of this movie are somewhere between boring and horrible.
But once the action starts, all of those flaws are easily overlooked or forgotten. Simply put, this film has the best martial arts choreography I have ever seen. The ease of Zen's movements, along with the sheer brutality of her actions, is simply breathtaking. The final showdown, while climbing up and down the outside of a several story building, is incredible. There are also three factory areas, all shot with different filters, that are insane. The standout of these is a meatpacking factory.
For fans of martial arts cinema, I can't recommend this film highly enough. It's a crime how overlooked/forgotten this film is. Go out and find a copy right now.
5 out of 5 stars.
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