Chocolate has for a protagonist teen prodigy Yanin Vismitananda (who undoubtedly will get a more West-friendly name if the film succeeds overseas) portraying an autistic child Zen, that picks up her bone-breaking moves from watching and imitating neighborhood boxers and Tony Jaa movies. In this characteristically wonky script, Zen is the love-child of a Thai moll Zin (Ammara Siripong, yummy actually) and a Yakuza man. After a hurried affair, Zin tells Yakuza Man that he had better return to Japan leaving her back. With an "alright, no need to make tea" felicity Yakuza Man obeys and goes offstage for the bulk of the narrative. Meanwhile the Thai honcho that originally owned Zin is understandably pissed at this betrayal and proceeds to perform such dainty deeds as cutting off Zin's toe. Somewhere along the way Zin picks up this really fat boy as playmate / future humorous sidekick for Zen. Oh, and the title comes from baby Zen's liking for the choco-candies the yanks call M&M's and we in India know as Gems .

Years pass, baby Zen becomes a teen that can catch any object thrown at her and kick the occasional butt, and Zin gets lymphosarcoma of the intestine...not exactly, some cancer or the other. Frustrated as to how to afford  her therapy, Fat Boy miraculously comes upon a diary from Zin's past with a list of folks that owe her money. Fat Boy and Zen then traipse along to collect. As expected the debtors aren't clearing their dues with a smile and it is up to Zen to convince them. Zin's old boss gets involved here and matters reach a head.

Given the legacy of its makers chop-socky fans would undoubtedly expect deviously devised and expertly executed thrills, but for long stretches the film is content to put up fight scenes that are merely decent. Problem is, when you have to put up with such titanic degrees of script contrivance and pap sentimentality, you expect to be compensated with action that is not "decent", but "fucking awesome". Yanin is limber and pulls off some mean athletic moves but compared to the adrenaline-fueled gut-punching spine-bending full-contact biff-pow mastery that was Ong-Bak, the early fight scenes come off here as slow, pale rehashes.

Why then does this film score 3.5 stars on the Kvlt meter? What brings it from the below par to above average standing? Well, there is a significantly improved brawl in a meat market (which also features a quirk of Zen being afraid of flies). However the major credit goes to the climactic sequence which is so awesome I'm going to devote an entire section of this review to it.

Setting the stage by having Zen and her entire family (Including Yakuza man, back from Japan) attacked by the Thai honcho's gang, the climax right from its first act unleashes one of the biggest spills of thrills outside of Ong-Bak. This barrage of hand-to-hand (or leg-to-leg or leg-to-head) combat mixed with sword and staff sorcery more than makes up for the earlier dissatisfaction. Parts of the scene recall the tea-house massacre in Kill Bill Vol.1 and the climactic free-for-all in Tom Yum Goong, but in a good way.

The second act is when Zin faces off against the villain's own retard warrior. This decidely unique take on the Drunken Monk theme is choreographed like a deadly ballet and offers immense satisfaction. The piece the resistance of this extended action bonanza is the third act where Zin and her attackers duke it out along the sides of a building in a scene that more than anything else appears like a live-action tribute to the side-scrolling fighting game genre.

And Yanin aka Zin? Given the space to flex her stuff, she's absolutely marvellous, punching, kicking, slicing and stick-ing her way through the opposition. She still has some way to go but I only be pleased to see her as the next-gen martial arts woman now that Michelle Yeoh is getting older.

So yes, the movie is something of a slog through about 2/3rds of its length but the final act is filled with such beauty and bad-assery you are well rewarded for your patience.