Hallelujah. The ‘Girls with Guns’ are back with a big fat old-fashioned, don’t-hold-back kickfest that will bring on orgasmic hot flashes for those of us who worshipped the likes of Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, Cynthia Khan, Michiko Nishiwaki and Kara Hui Ying Hung in the 1990’s – tough, resilient women who could make a roomful of men cry for their mother. Those days are gone in Hong Kong, but at least for some 90 delirious minutes they are back in Thailand.

Actress Jeeja Wismitanant is the real deal with years of Muay Thai training behind her and a fervent desire to make a go of it in a man’s action world. The bruises and cuts she received while filming Chocolate are testament to this. With a facial resemblance to Yukari Oshima, Jeeja also has many of her physical skills – extremely quick and limber kicks and acrobatic moves – together with a risk-taking attitude. She doesn’t emit Yukari’s power yet, but this is a spectacular debut performance with more to come, we hope. Of course, Jeeja is more likely to be compared to her countryman and inspiration Tony Jaa, but, at least at this point, she doesn’t come close to his ability to overwhelm you with his moves – ie no running across the heads of a line of men. Still, this one-two punch makes Thailand the action capital of the world for now – at least for those who like their action real and rough.

Chocolate is directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who was the guiding force behind Ong-Bak, Born to Fight and Tom Yum Goong but, unlike those films, he actually gives this one a decent if not complicated story line that has at least a bit of characterization and sentiment. On the other hand, there may be those who find the premise offensive. Not only is the main character autistic, but her toughest challenge is fighting another person who is autistic – this one practising a shaking break-dancing form of kung fu.

Zin (Ammara Siripong) is a tattooed moll/enforcer/collector for a nasty Thai kingpin of crime. When a Japanese Yakuza (Hiroshi Abe) invades his turf, Zin falls for him and the two fall quickly into bed. The Thai kingpin doesn’t appreciate this and forces the Yakuza to return to Japan, not knowing that Zin is carrying his child. Zin leaves the gang – her big toe remains behind as payment – and sets up home right next to a Muay Thai training facility. The child, Zen, is a girl who turns out to be autistic, but grows up like any girl in Thailand – loving her mother, eating chocolate and watching Tony Jaa movies on TV. The only difference is the special skills some autistic children have – extremely acute hearing and rapid reflexes – which result in an ability to excel in any fighting style she takes on. Her quick reflexes allow her to swallow buzzing flies and catch balls (and knives) thrown at her from any direction.

Years later, mom comes down with cancer and Zin finds a black book with outstanding debts owed to her mother, which she decides to collect. Fortunately for the viewer, the debtors (all men) who own small businesses – an ice factory, a chocolate wholesale shop and a meat market – don’t want to pay off the debts and many of their employees think it will be fun smacking around a clearly disabled young woman. They couldn’t be more wrong. The three business locations create lots of opportunities for various weapons and acrobatics as Zen bounces around like a ball on speed smacking all down to size. Like most martial arts films of this nature, the fights get bigger and more complex as they progress – with the best and most bone-breaking being left for last.

The Thai kingpin comes back into the picture and in the finale Zen has to take on hoards of men in a scenario that will likely remind many of the end of Kill Bill. But it shifts from the interior of a multi-storey building to an astonishing set piece on the building’s outside ledges as dozens of men chase after Zen only to go crashing to the ground, hitting every ledge and sign along the way – absolute hold-your-breath-and-pray stunt work. Taking a page out of the Jackie Chan movies, outtakes roll under the end credits and they are painful to watch. As much as I love this stuff, there is a part of me that feels like it is akin to feeding Christians to the lions for entertainment – but, if so, bring on more lions. This one ranks right up there with the best of the old HK Girls with Guns films and it just felt so good.

Brian Naas