Yanin Vismitananda, a.k.a. “Jeeja” Yanin, spent two years training for her role in Thailand’s latest martial arts showcase. A Taekwondo expert in real-life, Jeeja plays an autistic Thai boxer in Chocolate.
Jeeja collects on an old debt
(Icehouse scene inspired by Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury)
Muay Thai vs. breakdancing
Chocolate’s fight scenes were entertaining, though they do not meet the imposing standards set by Tony Jaa in Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong. The plot and acting were predictably bad, the editing surprisingly so. Incredibly, in the year 2008, the official DVD release doesn’t even include English subtitles!
Dedicated fans may be able to locate a fansubbed copy on the Internet. Otherwise, sit tight for the upcoming release of Ong Bak 2, which may just turn out to be the best martial arts action movie ever made:
Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 2 (late 2008)
[The film] is about a man with two sides – good and evil. Conceited about his talents, he lives in a world of darkness until he discovers the beauty of khon, a traditional masked dance of Thailand, and transforms it into a graceful fighting skill.
Star Tony Jaa will be bringing more than his bare firsts and feet to “Ong Bak 2″. Fans will see him fighting with a range of weapons, including the sword and the spear. [continued at The Nation]
Update: This review was based on the original, 110 minute Thai cut of Chocolate. The US DVD release is twenty minutes shorter; it seems that all the worst scenes have been removed, and proper English subtitles were added. I do recommend watching the new version.
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45 responses so far ↓
1
William Bolton
// Oct 7, 2008
This is a misleading and unfair review. Chocolate is immensely entertaining, and Jeeja Yanin is very impressive with good acting skills, graceful moves and a high energy level. There is a version of the movie, the Malaysian one, that has good English subtitles and sells for about $15 with postage at HKFlix.com. I highly recommend this movie if you’re a fan of female martial artists.
2
flamen
// Dec 6, 2008
its out on DVD with english subtitles now anyway, amazing movie
Jeeja Yanin rocks
3
maru
// Dec 8, 2008
jeeja yanin is very cool !!!
the martial choreography is very beautiful and powerful !!
4
t
// Dec 22, 2008
JeeJa Yanin would be better for martial art portion of movie
5
Chris
// Dec 22, 2008
What do you mean, t? She was the star of the movie.
6
i8ursocks_ha
// Dec 24, 2008
I loved Chocolate, and I think this review was inaccurate. It was an excellent movie with amazing fight scenes!
7
Chris
// Dec 24, 2008
What really bothered me was the hyperactive camera angle changes, that prevent the viewer from following the movement. This is demonstrated somewhat by the second clip above, and more so in other scenes. Forbidden Kingdom had the same problem.
8
Shola G
// Feb 15, 2009
Im from the uk, and i havent watched a chinese film before. And i think chocolate is A GREAT FILM,
9
Chris
// Feb 16, 2009
Shola G, Chocolate is a Thai film. If you’ve never seen a Chinese movie before, you might want to check out my Best of 2006, 2007 and 2008 lists.
10
ernie
// Feb 17, 2009
I just finished watching it, rented from Blockbuster, and Jeeja Yanin did an excellent job acting autistic and her martial arts rocked! I can’t see Dustin Hoffman (Rainman) doing those moves.
11
Maximus
// Feb 18, 2009
Get it on Blu-Ray. Awesome.
12
Beth
// Feb 24, 2009
No wonder her kicks look good, her base is Taekwondo. She did great and she’s definitely badass.
13
pj
// Mar 9, 2009
this movie was amazing, i highly recommend it, the acting plot and fighting are great, this girl need more recognition, a diamond in the rough without a doubt
14
Brock
// Mar 28, 2009
I thought this movie was incredible. Jeeja Yanin a) is pretty damn cute b) acted the part of the autistic pretty well c) is freaking amazing when it comes to martial arts. I found this to be way more enjoyable than The Protector. And c’mon… it’s got an autistic, break-dancing, muay thai fight. What more can you ask for?
15
Spiktsu Tsunami
// Apr 15, 2009
Oh man! this movie was amazing.. and this girl, Zen!
Oh my gosh.. she can kick butt! Im a big Tony Jaa fan!
Now I just became a big fan of Yanin Vismitananda
she rocks! Cant wait to see her next movie! Which i know
it will be really soon! She’s already a star and that i know!
Spiktsu
16
ROSS
// Apr 20, 2009
i have searched reviews of this film and it was all too bad. those critic watch too many movies they forget that movies made to entertain and be enjoyed. if its an art nior kind of film that’s where artsy criticism counts but this one is a great stylized martial arts film. jeeja yanin’s acting was great since she is the star of the film. she’s great in the movie.
i hope jacky chan or any asian producers from korea, hk, or japan tapped into this new talent. she reminds me of cynthia luster if u remember her.
SHE IS GREAT IN THIS MOVIE… I JUST HOPE THOSE WHO AREN’T FANS SHUT THIER MOUTHS… THEY ARE RUINING THE MOVIE FOR OTHERS WHO HASN’T SEEN IT.
17
Chris
// Apr 20, 2009
Ross, if someone forgot that movies were meant to entertain, it wasn’t me. Maybe it was the director?
18
jagerman
// May 19, 2009
this film was great… iv never seen a cute lil asian girl kick so much ass in 92 mins. plus i thing her agility would actually make her a good match for tony jaa just because she is a little fatser and able to bend a bit more( at least it seems so) hope she reads at least one of these message boards because she should know she worked hard and it payed off… the ONLY thing i couldnt stand was the ice factry fight. BITCH U AINT BRUCE LEE…. honestly it wasnt even cool when he did it. i find it just annoying. oh and for thoes who will hate on my comment YES I KNOW I CANT SPELL SO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO CRACK ON
19
Chris
// May 19, 2009
jagerman, you might also be interested in Best female fight movies/scenes.
20
Nikida
// Jun 24, 2009
Awesome !
Very impressive, being a world class master martial arts instructor,and retired professional full contact kickboxer.
I must say ,Yanin Vismitananda base techniques plus form are outstanding!
Great entertainment!
Two thumps up !
To female martial artist and female martial artist actress.
Great job !!!
21
Josh Young
// Jun 25, 2009
It is about time people started connecting the dances with the martial. I am very impressed by native Thai dances, including sword dances and the Trad dance of Muay Thai, which is not that unlike taiji in several ways.
I believe that real Muay Thai is very close to real Taiji and that these have all the skills of martial dances of India, Asia and Arabia.
I really enjoyed the first movie in this article, Chocolate was brilliant and full of homage to great movies in the past.
22
Josh Young
// Jun 25, 2009
Just saw Ong Bak 2. It was great, very little dialog, lots of motion, not too unrealistic. However the relationship of the dance o the martial is not clear in it, am I just missing this from the first movie?
23
Chris
// Jun 25, 2009
To my eyes, neither movie made any attempt to explain the relationship.
24
rickystar
// Jul 5, 2009
Wow,Chocolate was excellent! I loved it! I’m a big fan of Jeeja Yanin now!
Brother Ninja will be out soon …can’t wait to see that. The movie teaser is on my website.
25
Niceguy
// Jul 15, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np1IBDVsOFY&feature=channel_page
its a nice video from yanin
26
William S. RAlph
// Aug 12, 2009
Got to see this on Netflix streaming, this girl is Bad @$$. Though the acting was at times poor, I think the film was highly entertaining. At times the editing was a bit jumpy but as someone who has done a bit of fight editing for film, its not easy and oh what rolls and rolls of fight scenes they had to cut together. Anyway I just have to say I think the film was great and a A+ Martial arts film. I hope they place a whole lot of protection on this girl, Id hate to see her career go down the tubes so early because she injures herself.
27
William Bolton
// Aug 12, 2009
For anyone who’s interested, Jeeja Yanin has a new movie coming out next year called “Raging Phoenix”. Looks great.
28
may
// Aug 14, 2009
was this a review of chocolate or a hyped preview of ong bak 2? personally i thought chocolate was better.
29
Angelica
// Aug 29, 2009
I love JeeJa Yanin
Yah more power to
you And to your career
Jeeja Yanin your Rock !!!!♥♥♥☺☺☺
30
todd
// Sep 5, 2009
i just watched this on dvd, and jeeja is awsome! she will be a name to be remembered.
31
Katrien
// Oct 7, 2009
I’m from Belgium, I watched the movie with a group of friends and the reactions where unanimous: it’s a great film!
Offcourse I don’t know too many azian movies so I can’t really compare, but I really loved it. I didn’t think the acting was poor, bud if you did think so, please never watch a flemish movie
it’s a movie I will watch again several times, and I can not wait until Jeeja Yanin’s next movie. She kicks some serious ass
32
Sierra
// Nov 4, 2009
Just saw this movie last night and was so amazed by this girls martial arts skills I had to google her today to find out what her next film will be!
This girl is bad @ss! As an American woman, it’s so refreshing to see a tough girl action hero minus the latex dominatrix costume and high heels.
I hope this woman does many, many more movies….and hopefully one co-starring with Tony Jaa! That would be a duo that could blow anyones mind away.
33
LYODDS
// Dec 5, 2009
chocolate movie was a great film i,ve watched it so many times with my kids. ofcourse with guidance..better watch her next movie “Ranging Phoenix
34
Chris
// Dec 5, 2009
Raging Phoenix? Sorry to say, I have.
35
Sean
// Dec 30, 2009
Just got done watching this film streaming from netflix. Was very happy with the character portrayal. Coming from a guy who has a mother with cancer and a sister with special needs, I was impressed. Ms. Yanin is a fresh figure in the martial arts realm.
I can’t wait to see her perform again.
36
rossi
// Dec 31, 2009
miss yanin is the best i love chocolate ….and raging pheonix not bad ….i want more yanin
37
michael angelo
// Jan 2, 2010
I really love jeeja yani movie especially the chocolate. I really inspired by the martial moves that jeeja yani did to practice more in my field the teakwondo. I hope someday I will meet jeejan yani in person and hang up with her or do some sparring. Hey!! jeejan yani I hope you can visit your fans here in the Philippines
38
geek
// Jan 6, 2010
I watched this film several times! The author of the blog entry didn’t seem to like it, but who cares?! Jeeja Yanin has now garnered a trail of fans following her. And rightfully so! The film might not be your usual American Oscar-winning film, but Chocolate has its merits. The fighting scenes were great! Jeeja Yanin did a good job for a debut film. It’s truly an entertaining film (even my mom thought so, too).
Honestly, I’ve lost interest in Martial Arts films until Chocolate came along and sparked my interest.
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