Following the unprecedented success of “Ong-Bak” and “The Protector,” director Prachya Pinkaew was probably looking to get away from working with Tony Jaa on his next feature. Dropping one martial artist for another may not sound like much of a difference, but while new leading lady JeeJa Yanin doesn’t have the talent to match Jaa’s acrobatic fighting style, she’s a far better actor. It’s a trade-off that serves the movie well, because even though “Chocolate” is 90% action, the dramatic scenes that do exist work better as a result of her involvement. Yanin stars as Zen, an autistic girl who has learned to fight exclusively from watching martial arts movies. When her mother gets sick and can’t afford treatment, however, Zen sets out to collect payment from the various gangsters that owe her money. Desperate as it may be to inject some hint of character development into the proceedings, “Chocolate” is little more than a demo reel of some of the best action sequences that Asian cinema has to offer. Yanin may not be able to pull off some of the more impressive moves in Jaa’s arsenal, but she’s still a surprisingly capable fighter whose finest moment comes during a fight where she mimics Bruce Lee. It’s not the best action scene in the movie, but it’s exactly what makes “Chocolate” so much fun to watch.
