Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Chocolate Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 13, 2008

An autistic heroine is forced to confront her mother’s foes in Thai action guru Prachya Pinkaew’s “Chocolate” (2008). Though not as polished as the director’s impressive “Ong-Bak”, the film packs a good dose of kicks and jabs that should make an impression on martial arts fans. Distributed by Magnolia Pictures.

A Japanese killer (Hiroshi Abe, Fist of the Northern Star: The Legend of Toki) and his Thai sweetheart (Ammara Siripong) must face the wrath of a powerful underworld boss (Pongpat Wachirabunjong, The Tiger Blade) guarded by a group of fashionably-dressed transvestites. They manage to dodge the bullet(s) and eventually part ways leaving behind an autistic child (JeeJa Yanin).

Years later. The child has grown into a beautiful girl, but the mother has fallen ill. In order to collect enough money to pay their medical bills, their cousin begins visiting forgotten clients with long overdue debts from the mother’s murky past. Things heat up quickly.

The Mother

I’ve seen Chocolate twice now and the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that its simplistic narrative is the key reason why I was able to enjoy it. I approached the film with an open mind knowing that what I would see would probably be nothing more than a continuation of Prachya Pinkaew's genre fascination with martial arts cinema. The online forums that monitor and discuss Asian cinema also had me somewhat prepared.

Chocolate offers some amazing fighting scenes and everything the film lacks in terms of substance the action manages to make up for with a bang. Obviously, you have to be willing to buy what the creators of Chocolate have to sell to agree with my observation, but if you’ve already seen or heard about Prachya Pinkaew’s collaborations with Tony Jaa (Ong-bak, Tom yum goong) and have been intrigued by them, then there is no reason why you wouldn’t like JeeJa Yanin’s “acting”.

Technically, Chocolate is an interesting hybrid of a film with very obvious influences. The finale, a massive and notably prolonged fighting scene, reveals clear parallels with Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003). Here not only the stunts appear painfully familiar, but even the camera moves suggest that Kill Bill must have been a major source of inspiration. As I noted above, however, its narrative is far and away from being convincing.

The film’s most problematic area is the editing. During the opening twenty or so minutes its pacing is so awkward that large blocks of the narrative come off as unusually long TV ads. The lack of chemistry between the main protagonists also exacerbates the rough areas in the script. As a result, it is hard to praise Chocolate for anything else other than its action.

I can only recommending Prachya Pinkaew’s latest film to those of you who found a great deal of substance in his Ong Bak. The same formula is in place here and while the story isn’t as intense and polished, the action certainly is. Furthermore, the fact that JeeJa Yanin and her partners managed to execute all of the film’s mind-boggling stunts, some of them extremely painful to even look at let alone attempt to film, without resorting to any sort of contemporary wizardry is surely amazing. And for that alone, fans of the genre Chocolate belongs to must find time to see it.

Chocolate Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC, and granted a 1080p transfer Prachya Pinkaew's Chocolate arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distribs Showbox Media.

This is the first release by Showbox Media to reach my desk and I must say upfront that there is a lot that has me excited about their future Blu-ray discs. First of all, both detail and clarity are quite pleasing. Chocolate offers a variety of locations for its mind-boggling action (a meat-processing plant, an ice plant, outdoor scenes, etc) and detail is consistently at a high level. There is a strong definition on the numerous close-ups as well. Each time the camera zooms and stops on the main protagonist's face (there are a lot of these particular shots) you will certainly have the opportunity to see more than what the corresponding Thai SDVD release could offer. The color scheme on the other hand is also solid. And even though Chocolate does not boast a particular color preference each time yellows, greens, and reds are prevalent the Blu-ray transfer does a good job of showing it. Finally, the print provided by Showbox Media also appears to be quite healthy as I did not detect any disturbing examples of dirt, debris, or scratches. My only minor complaint with this transfer is the presence of a small amount of digital noise which pops up during selected scenes (due to an unknown to me reason it is most obvious whenever light yellow and green become the prevalent colors). Aside from that I can comfortably announce that the UK distribs have done a good, close to solid, job with their first Blu-ray entry. (Note: Even though the release is marketed as Region-B it is in fact Region-Free therefore you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographic location).

Chocolate Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two tracks on this Blu-ray release: Thai DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Thai Stereo 2.0. The Thai DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix is certainly quite active. Chocolate boasts an overwhelming amount of action and the majority of it is effectively enhanced. All sorts of kicks, jabs, and punches have been boosted with that marquee "pooh" sound that many Asian martial art films employ. The bass is also rather strong, quite potent in fact. Thus, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 provides a strong presentation of the specific enhancements I mentioned above which I believe will please those of you with elaborate audio equipment. Furthermore, the music is well balanced as well and I did not detect any disturbing pop-ups, hissing, or cracking, Finally, the dialog seems easy to follow and I assume that if one is fluent in Thai one certainly wouldn't experience any issues while following the main protagonists and their lines. Finally, I must note that even though the back cover for this release does not list a DTS-HD MA track, while the Blu-ray menu only refers to it as Thai 5.1, it is indeed on the disc.

Chocolate Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras department more than makes up for the small setback in the audio department. First of all, I must warn you that some of the extras here are in 1080p, therefore you will be able to play them in your PS3 and SAs while others are in standard-def PAL and therefore you will not be able to access them unless, of course, you happen to have a region-free player capable of converting the PAL signal into NTSC. First, there is a gallery with a trailer (HD) and four TV Spots (PAL). Next you will find an interesting feature titled "A Training Workshop" (PAL) where some interesting moves are shown. In addition to it there is a gallery with "Outtakes & Highlights" where a total of five scenes are introduced offering some extra action that has been cut from the final version of the film (PAL). A second gallery introduces six additional deleted scenes (PAL). "Real Fighters" is probably amongst the most valuable extras here as it offers a look at those who apparently do not need stunt partners (PAL). "The Stars of Chocolate" and "Fighting Talent" are two rather generic entries with the former probably being the more exciting piece (PAL). Finally, "Breaking the Mould", "Step by Step", and "A Star is Born" are the three featurettes to put a closure here. I recommend that you take a look at "A Star is Born" is provides a good portrait of fighting sensation JeeJa Yanin.

Chocolate Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While substance may not be in abundance in Prachya Pinkaew's Chocolate, action most definitely is. This is a wild ride of a film that will surely raise a few eyebrows amongst those who like their cinema with as little dialog as possible and with as many punches and kicks to make up for it. Simply put, Chocolate is a genre picture. This being said, the first Blu-ray release by UK-distribs Showbox Media definitely has me excited. Aside from the small issue I noted with the video presentation everything else appears to be intact. I will be looking forward to see what they have planned for 2009. Recommended.