Chocolate on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Brandon A. DuHamel
The Film
Thai action filmmaker Prachya Pinkaew returns with this slow boiling martial arts oddity that turns the genre upside down, sideways, and shakes it around a bit. It would be risible to proclaim Chocolate some amazing work of art -- a new height in the world of filmmaking that all should aspire to, but for those seeking some fun and relentless action
Chocolate delivers.
The plot is about as thick as a sheet of ice on a hot August pavement, and it takes a while for the things to start to happen, but once they do, they never let up. Zen (Yanin Vismitananda) is the autistic daughter of Zin, the estranged wife of notorious gangster No. 8 (Pongpat Wachirabunjong). She has grown up with her mother and her cousin Moom (Taphon Phopwandee), on the run, in hiding from No. 8 who split up an affair between Zin and Zen's father, a member of the Japanese Yakuza, Musashi (Hiroshi Abe).
Spending her days mostly in silence and learning the art of Thai kickboxing from video games, watching movies and observing a kickboxing school behind her house, Zen becomes a skilled fighter with cat-like reflexes. When Zin is diagnosed with cancer and cannot afford to pay for her chemotherapy medication, Moong discovers a book listing gangsters that owe Zin money. Together Moong and Zen seek them out and try to collect Zin's debts. This is when the pace picks up, as Zen's inner warrior is unleashed leaving a trail of beaten-down and bloodied bodies in her wake.
Making sense of the story can be baffling. The movie plays at times like the worst of a Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle and at its best like a videogame that combines Donkey Kong and Street Fighter, so it is best to forget the details and focus on the action. Newcomer Yanin Vismitananda, who trained for 2-years in the art of Thai kickboxing to play this role displays amazing skill and flexibility, and Pinkaew does well to put her in the most ludicrous situations; what else can you expect from a martial arts exploitation film? The fact that this time around it’s a pretty lady dishing out the goods will make it all the more fascinating for a lot of guys, I'm sure.
The Picture
Chocolate arrives on Blu-ray from Magnolia in a 1.78:1 1080p/24 VC-1 High Definition encoding. Sadly, the film's production hampers its presentation on Blu-ray. Details are soft, black levels are washed out; whilst in low light there is a high level of slow-moving grain. The special effects are also exposed under the lens of Blu-ray's high-resolution microscope causing them to look a bit cheesy. In one scene where Zen is hit in the face with an abacus, of all things, the blood from her nose looks very much like a bad CG effect. Otherwise, Chocolate has solid flesh tones and no apparent processing issues due to the transfer itself that hinder the original image, but it will never be reference material.
The Sound
Chocolate comes with two lossless audio options, the original Thai language track in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and an English dub also in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Unfortunately for those English-speaking viewers who are not hearing impaired who would like to view the film in its original language, the only English subtitles provided are English SDH. If you happen to speak Spanish, however, normal Spanish subtitles are provided.
The audio mix for
Chocolate is somewhat disappointing for an action film of this nature. Yes, it is aggressive and makes good use of the surround channels with directional sound effects and atmospherics, but the mid-range sounds a bit weak, even though low-frequency extension is deep. Dialogue is also thin and at times harsh with some obvious distortion during louder passages, and voices sound pinched. I suppose the quality of the sound, fittingly, matches the overall quality of the picture, but that is not saying much.
The Extras
Extras are lean on this release coming only in the form of a surprisingly informative
Making of (4:3/"windowboxed"/standard definition) and three trailers for other Magnolia Home Entertainment Blu-ray releases.
Final Thoughts
Fans of martial arts films should enjoy this slow-boiler with a big finish. The unique story and its female protagonist alone make it a standout in the genre. Disappointingly, the Blu-ray release won't offer any great value by way of picture, sound, or supplements, so perhaps even for big fans of these sorts a films, it may only be worthy of a rental.
Where to Buy
Product Details
- Actors: Yanin Vismitananda
- Directors: Prachya Pinkaew
- Video Codec: VC-1
- Audio/Languages: Thai DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Thai & English Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Region: Region A
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating: R
- Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: February 10, 2009
- Run Time: 90 minutes
- List Price: $34.98
- Extras:
