Fantastic Fest 2008

Brief Summary:
The director of ONG BAK returns with his new protégé, who was in training for five years for this role. Jeeja Vismistananda portrays an autistic girl who learns martial arts from watching Tony Jaa and Bruce Lee films so as to exact revenge on those who bankrupted her mother.

Full Description:
It's been a looooong time since ONK BAK first clued us in to the awesome new wave of Muay Thai action films. As fun as it was, the quickly-produced Jaa/Prachya follow-up THE PROTECTOR was honestly a bit of a let down. Meanwhile, two years into production on his directorial debut, Tony Jaa is hermiting in mountain caves trying to meditate his way into a grip on his runaway-budget sequel ONG BAK 2. Director Prachya Pinkaew, however, has kept his vision and is back with a vengeance. For five years, he groomed the cherubic Jeeja Vismistananda into a furious hellcat of a Muay Thai action star. While maybe not up to the raw athletic talent of Tony, she more than delivers in agility, speed and raw charm.

Perhaps the most buzzed-about feature of this year's lineup, CHOCOLATE lives up to the hype. Watch the trailer and you know that this is action only developing Asian countries with little to no litigation industry can provide. Bone-shattering, painful, brutal and death-defyingly dangerous stunt work with no wires, no stunt doubles, and full, bloody raw-force contact.

The plot...sure, it's a bit by the numbers, a classic revenge story with a novel twist. The heroine is autistic, which subtly plays out in her martial arts style. Honestly though, I can't tell you what ONG BAK was about other than some vaguely-explained idol thievery. The first 3 times I watched it was without subtitles, and it didn't matter one lick. CHOCOLATE follows that vein. Once she develops her rib-cracking Muay Thai chops (from absorbing all required combat skills from a Tony Jaa/Bruce Lee TV marathon), the plot turns Zin (Jeeja) from one battle into the next. The action culminates in two final scenes that are worth the price of admission alone. The first is a classic dojo-style battle against what Toronto Midnight Madness director Colin Geddes describes as a "breakdancing crackbaby." The next, an extended brawl fought entirely on four stories worth of narrow, precipitous ledges, all without safety nets, or seemingly any safety concerns at all. The legend of Jackie Chan lives on in Thailand with a whole new crop of fearless athletes charging recklessly ahead with only one concern: not their lives, nay, our sacred amusement. (Tim League)

CHOCOLATE is sponsored by Big Top Candy, Austin's ridiculously addictive vintage candy shop, who will be supplying cocoa goodness at both screenings. If you are in from out of town, do not miss a chance to stop by this quickly established Austin landmark.