Chocolate

Gimmicks are nothing new to the kung fu genre. They have been around since the 70's. One armed swordsmen, no armed fighters, no legged fighters, just to name a few. This is an addition to the kung fu gimmick. Someone with a horrible disability that no person should ever have to face. She is female! Why is she kicking ass and not in the kitchen? Just kidding... the fighter in this is autistic. What may sound like sheer exploitation (which it really probably is, even though the actrees is not really autistic), this movie actually does have some heart outside of all the carnage. Prachya Pinkaew adds another impressive film to his resume. Chocolate is a must watch for fans of the genre, as it has many homages to the different fight styles you have grown to love from legends such as Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. It is definitely something different for the genre.

After the setup to the story, which lasts about 25-30 minutes, there is very little time between fight scenes. Picky filmgoers that like things such as story and dialogue in their movies may not like this, but kung fu fans will love it. After establishing that the girl is autistic, likes kung fu, and has killer reflexes while her mom worked for the mafia back in the day, pissed them off by marrying a Japanese guy, ran away, and is now dying of cancer, it is off to the races. The first couple fights are pretty basic kung fu fights with a few sweet moves attached, but one of the real great ones takes place in a butcher shop. Here we get a lot of variety from Zen. She fights a lot of men with cleavers, and uses her environment to her advantage, she even dodges a kick so a guys heel goes right into a meat hook and he is left hanging. The finale is great as well, it lasts a good 25 minutes from start to finish. It starts in a restaurant, moves to a rooftop, goes to some sort of dojo, then moves back to the rooftop, and finally ends up on the ledges of a nearby building. I won't give away too much here, but this scene has everything from fighting transvestites (who are actually in the movie throughout), to some tweeked out b-boy. It is a good one.

There is actually some good characters in this compared to some other Kung Fu flicks. You actually feel for Zin and Zen, the mother and daughter this is based around. Moom, their sort of adopted nephew/cousin, isn't as annoying as a lot of kung fu sidekicks tend to be. The Villains, whether it is the gang of transvestites, or the crime bosses, or just the people she fights throughout range from memorable to cliche, but they have their moments.

This was a very good, different, kung fu movie. Probably one of the better ones of the decade. I do feel that it could have been a little longer to establish a little more story, but other than that, I have no real big complaints. I applaud the filmmakers for not taking the exploitation route (completely) and actually putting some heart into this movie as well.

BEST MOMENT: Zin dodges a cleaver thrown by one of the thugs, and in turn it bounces off the fence behind her and sticks right to his shoulder.

MOST "WTF" MOMENT: Really, the whole movie is a "WTF" moment and those who have a hard time with suspension of disbelief may not like it. A girl with no training whatsoever is able to kick a large amount of ass just by watching movies. Some may hate the ridiculousness, but I love it!

RATING: 8/10

RAMBO'S RANDOM RAMBLING: One of the movies she watches to learn Kung Fu? Ong Bak, directed by the same guy. Way to be subtle!