She Was the Next Tony Jaa | Video Essay
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- Опубліковано 3 сер 2023
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Accented Cinema - Episode 113
If only the poster is better.
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Honestly as an autistic individual I think I have an easier time empathizing with minorities although the discrimination isn’t as severe the parallels are uncanny at times
Hello, please can you do a great video about sammo hung I feel he's the most underrated action star ever. Thanks in advance for seeing this comment
I love that you mention Elektra. It's wild to compare that movie to Alias (the spy show Jennifer Garner starred in, not the Bendis comic). That show is Jennifer Garner as a spy in a nuanced, well acted, well choreographed show, versus Elektra that tried to make her a brooding male gaze sexy assassin
The first thing I noticed about Jeeja's fights in Chocolate was that each fight was a homage to a particular martial arts legend, the fact she can mimic other actors styles so accurately shows that she's a well rounded martial artist herself. Chocolate is a really good movie and you really care about Zen. That said Raging Phoenix is the better movie and the fights are a lot more brutal.
I assume it's because her character learned by watching, like movies?
@@ctakitimu Wasn't just the styles, it was locations, for instance Bruce Lee fought in an ice house in The Big Boss, Jackie Chan fought in a warehouse in Rumble In The Bronx and she used lockers in the same way Jackie used a fridge door to hit his opponents. Little details.
@@ll7868 yeah but still, all from what her character saw on TV
The fight between Zen the autistic versus Thomas the boy with Tourette's syndrome was quite amazing for me to watch...as each used their wits and talents to defeat each other.
Highlight of the movie for me.
It's such a good fight, to this day I remember it❤
Honestly as an autistic adult this movie felt special to me and empowering
I found out about this movie from that fight scene. The whole movie is just really good.
Muay Thai vs Breakdance.. Then she proceed to make a fighting breakdance movie in her next role
One more thing, thank you for talking about this movie. I am autistic and the martial arts were where I learned a bunch about life. This movie spoke to me on a different level. Also being in the West I never heard any of the marketing, so I had no expectations. Also listening to your analysis about why the direct callbacks to other martial art movies. Great Channel.
I noticed the callbacks to and as an autistic individual I find it easier to empathize with minorities as well plus it also helps my upbringing my parents taught me to respect other races and nationalities
This movie sure felt special
I saw her fights on UA-cam back then. She was crazy talented I’m surprise she didn’t take off. Glad she’s getting some attention finally.
I remember the final battle to this day. I enjoyed the movie but it's been a while since I've seen it. I was mainly interested in it due to the portrayal of autism. You are absolute right on how it's more respectful than plenty of Western portrayals. Seeing an autistic person become a super badass seemed like a cheesy fantasy to me, but I will take it over seeing someone like myself be seen as "creepy" or as some human computer. Both of those takes have the person be largely defined by the condition, which frankly isn't very good for character writing.
Yeah if anything a power fantasy but a well done one
@@cheetahluv210 It's incredibly impressive for a 2008 movie, a time when the condition was just a little less known about. The writers and Jeeja did their homework. She doesn't play a human computer, a "tragic creep" or a member of the Big Bang Theory cast. She played a woman with autism who just so happened to kick the asses of countless criminals
It does a good job showing the range of neurodivergence, without any gimmicky effects that causes motion sickness and also has the courtesy of silencing almost all the screaming, which I can really appreciate. They took a LOT of care to make this movie deliberately tolerable to watch for people who are sensitive. These days, when shrieking is perceived as humorous, its often too much to watch (or hear).
Extraordinary attorney Woo does a great job portraying an autistic character.
Chocolate was such a great film. I remember watching it when I started exploring more SEA action films in high school
Great video! I loved Chocolate and Raging Phoenix when they were released and was kinda disappointed that Jeeja never became a massive star.
yeah she really deserves to be more well known. Extremely talented actress.
Raging Phoenix had some amazing fights.
Luckily she was in Tom Yum Goong 2 and Triple Threat, but I agree she deserved MUCH more success.
@bobmarley6306 she has had 2 kids. That's probably the real reason she isn't in as much films anymore
@virionspiral Oh I see, thanks for info
I will not stop introducing her films to anyone and I will never forget the first time I saw "Chocolate." One of the last projects she did was as a stunt double in a fantasy-action series here in the Philippines.
I was blown away by Chocolate when I first saw it over 10 years ago. The fight scenes, imo, are not only more varied than Ong Bak's, but extremely diverse in their choreography. It's true she can't hit as hard as Tony Jaa did there, but her actual performance comes through so strongly from beginning to end that I feel like the film actually has twice the personality.
Chocolate remains one of my all-time favorite martial arts films, up there with Unleashed, Ip Man, and the Raids.
As an EDIT: I'm not sure I agree with the conclusion of the video. I think the message is a little broader than just autistic women. It's more like "work hard, do right by family, and do good" or something along those lines. That the main character is autistic makes her different, but not special. What makes he special is her heart and her will and it's from these that the lesson should be derived.
I randomly found this on Netflix a few years ago. This is a great martial arts film that is not talked about enough.
I actually saw it on Tubi
As a person who’s born with autism, I approve this video
I second this as an autistic adult it felt special to me and empowering
You can develop autism?
@@ertuio20002 I don’t think there’s a cause to have autism
@@MatthewGhirardi its just that the way you word it made it sound like you can develop it
@@ertuio20002 it’s very likely a variety of genetic factors that combine from both parents with no concrete cause very likely everyone with autism was born with it just some get diagnosed sooner than others
Yet another one of those films that my uncles exposed me to as a kid.
I remember this movie for opening me up to how desperate life can be for many people (though the movie brings it to an extreme with the fierce action). I felt sad for her, yet her action was breathtaking.
That's not the only thing your uncle exposed to you as a kid.
@@Mechjeb661You have issues. Seek therapy.
She's way more convincing in fight scenes than any of those typical Hollywood female "badassess".
Unlike those Hollywood female badasses she actually can fight. That makes a huge difference.
@@gandalainsley6467 and she's a well written complex character
You are talking as if the male ones are trained martial artists and do their own stunts. Their action scenes are also full of quick jarring cuts no wide angles and shot in dark dull scenes to hide how unconvincing they are.
@@catsthemovie4692 With men its easier because they don't need to have as much of a suspension of disbelief as women because it looks very weird when a woman for example throws a guy but it won't look weird if a guy does it. If those characters fought other women it would be okay but usually they fight men.
@@catsthemovie4692Ever heard of Tom Cruise
Chocolate is one of my favorite martial arts movies. It has so much heart....criminally underrated. Unfortunately, Jeeja Yanin hasn't really gotten another opportunity like it.
Love this film- the fights were sublime, especially as she picks up and uses the different fighting styles. For me I must have missed any Tony references, so my expectations weren't skewed.
It was actually pretty smart of them to use a clear Bruce Lee inspired fight early on. It told the audience, this is not Tony Jaa. Figuring out the inspiration for each fight made every encounter fun. You could also see the quality of fights progress, so in the end her hits were appropriately harder and more precise.
As an autistic adult this movie felt special to me and empowering and you did a good job with this video and it was refreshing to hear you talk about it
I love this movie, I've had it on DVD for over a decade and never understood why no one had ever heard of it. Thanks for the video essay and the memories!
I think I am lucky that I sought out the movie just because it was a martial arts movie. When I first watched it back in the day I had no heightened expectations and could go in blind. I enjoyed it a lot
I also loved her in Raging Phoenix
Because of the plot and character work I recommend this movie to even non action movie fans as well
Such a well shot film with excellent choreography and an actual plot. I really cared about the character. I thought she did an amazing job, and the action was based on her learning techniques and moves bit by bit. It was brilliant!
Bought it as soon as it came out and have watch it many times. ❤
I remember watching this when I was in college, I enjoyed it very much :D
this was one of the first movies i saw as a kid that did a decent job of normalizing autism. Jeeja and everyone came together to make this film very very good. i was so happy to see this vid pop up today, love Chocolate and you break down films so well.
The video essay about Chocolate that the world needed to see. Bless, my guy! I've waited over 10 years for someone to drop this kind of content about Chocolate. Truly, it's an underrated and underappreciated film. I've watched this movie, maybe over 10 times now in this life, and I still love it. Flaws and all. T___T
I am so happy to see more people enjoying Chocolate!
I watched it back when it came out and loved it right away ❤
This movie is in my top 10 list ! JeeJa was fantastic. I never thought the action to be worse than Tony Jaa's movies, on the contrary. Different yes, worse no :)
After Ong Bak I tried to find any and every Thai action film possible and that led me to Chocolate. I was very impressed but always wondered where she went but I guess she’s popped up in a couple things since (that one clip looked like Raid 1 or 2).
I generally feel like over sexualized female leads is not only disrespectful but corny so this was refreshing. Furie starring Veronica Ngo was dope af too!
I never clicked so fast. I'm a huge fan of hers. Thank you for touting her.
I still have the DVD for this movie! I love Jeeja.❤❤❤
Happy to be one of the few who saw this when it came out and also enjoyed on the first watch. Even more glad people are starting to recognise this film
Also God damn that fall at the end. If you know you know
Another underrated all female action movie is Hong Kong's (So Close 2002) imo also ahead of its time. It also have pretty decent written gay character romance representation as well 🏳️🌈
I think that So Close did those better than any Hollywood movies really. For some reason action movies with female leads seem to work best if those leads are South East Asian or Hong Kong/China?
This movie is great. I remember watching it a few years back on UA-cam. Some of the best action put on screen
I love this channel's ability to shine a light of new appreciation on the various films and actors it looks at.
I remember being very young and loving to go to the movie rental stores in the States. I loved browsing the Asian Foreign Cinema section looking for Martial Arts movies. They were a lot more entertaining than anything made anywhere else. I can confirm that Tony Jaa movies were just on a different level at the time and nothing came close to what he did in those movies. I haven't seen anything even come close. I haven't seen this film but I am glad you made a video about and will check it out. This is why I love this channel.
Oh wow I watched over a decade ago. Thanks for reminding me this existed. I need to watch it again.
The relentless final battle that keeps on going and switching locations still blows my mind.
Easily one of my favorite martial art films, thank you for talking about it. It’s so cool
I loved this movie when I first saw it last year!
I love this movie. The plot is a little strange, but the action is top notch. I assumed it was well-known to martial arts movie fans. I suppose the title is kinda vague and doesn't scream "action movie". Probably doesn't help that there was some some European drama movie that cam out around the same time with a similar name.
It is a shame the star never became well-known. I did see her in a couple other movies, but nothing as big as Chocolate. I did read she took some time off to focus on starting a family. Maybe her momentum slowed because of that.
Loved this movie. You forgot the stunts were REALLY good (and painful). Cool video!
@@juanortiz9123 I think that goes without saying. South-East Asian stuntmen don't do anything by half-measures!
This movie is GOLD!
I found it in 2010, in some "legal" webpage and I love it !
Now I cant find the movie anywhere, not even in those "legal" webpages...
Thank you for bring back those fighting scenes to my memories!
I'm a bit of the opposite of yourself. I was not disappointed when I first saw Chocolate like you were, and I'm not really a huge fan of Tony Jaa like you are. I've re-watched Chocolate many times and loved it every time. But I've never re-watched a single Tony Jaa film and can't even really remember which ones I have watched. I just know I've seen one or two and thought they were good. But Chocolate was immediately something very special for me and remains special to me today.
the world needs more people like you. the world needs more people seeing this video and watching this movie. i have wanted to say this while in the middle of the video, but i also wanted to finish watching
I watched this film about a year ago and I'm so glad to see you make such a great in-depth video about it.
This is one of my all time favorite movies, and I'm so happy to see it get some recognition!
I'm one of the few who have seen the movie and liked it. Seen it a long time ago, and I had quite a trouble searching for it again.
Every time I watch one of these videos, I always think about what I'll be doing in my future. The way you talk in your afterwords always give me a sense of "I can do that, I want to do that." Great video!
What a nice commentary. This is a special movie that hasn't been seen by enough people. It's a shame this didn't take off. Thanks for sharing.
Your videos are always so high-quality. I love your channel.
Thanks for featuring this. I remember the martial arts magazines in the US talking about the movie before it came out, again with the idea that she was going to be the "next Tony Jaa". I've been curious about the movie but need to actually track it down; this video reminded me about it, and renewed my interest.
Really love this movie. I hope JeeJa gets her time to shine some day like you said, I still remember being so let down to see her star alongside Tony and Iko Uwais in Triple Threat only to have her unceremoniously exit the film.
I'm so glad you covered this movie and Jeeja. I really wish she had become a bigger star because she has all the right tools to do so. I had the pleasure of seeing her in person years ago at Busan International Film Festival 2011 in Haeundae when she was promoting a Korean/Thai coproduction called The Kick. I really hope a director takes note and gives her a real breakout role she rightfully deserves.
Thanks for educating me on Chocolate. I will be sure to catch it!
I had seen this before ong bak. So I didn't have the comparison in my head between yanin and jaa. I absolutely love this movie, and rewatch it every so often.
I sometimes wonder about how many great movies are out there that I don't even know of. But it's so hard to find these gems, because doing a search for something like "underrated movies" often leads to the same titles that you already know. So thanks for bringing my attention to this one.
This channel has given me a new found love for these kinds of movies.
I had never heard of this movie before. Thank you for making us aware of it.
I remember my mother and I stumbled upon this on netflix over a decade ago, and watched it with no more info than what the description provided. We both really enjoyed it, for many of the reasons you mentioned in this video.
I watched ot right after your community post, thank you for bring it to my attention!
Thank you for seeing this movie for what it is and shining a light on it, one of my all time favorites.
i loveeee this movie, so happy to see your video pop up in my feed!!
I didn't know about this movie till a friend of mine showed me it and she wasn't even a huge martial arts fan like me. It was a great movie and I'm happy you brought it up again because I forgot about it. Need to re-watch it now. Thank you.
I started to watch this vid last night but stopped because I wanted to watch the movie as cold as I could. Now that I have seen it. This is a must watch for any martial arts fan. A solid movie.
I remember picking this up on dvd about 10/12 years ago and being absolutely floored.
I remember seeing this on Netflix years ago and loving it. I remember going on a rant about it to my friends because I loved the story and how it lead to the final action scenes.
This movie was great but I had forgotten about it.
Also amazing from around the same time was "Born to Fight" which has absolutely outrageous scenes of stuntmen putting their bodies on the line like 1980s Hong Kong stuntmen.
My god, this video set my mind on fire. There is a reason I don't skip your video releases. You always bring it. First off, I need to see this movie. I have been a caretaker of many autistic people in my life as a caregiver. But also, I have been blessed with an autistic son. I can only get him to watch a limited amount of things with me, but I want him to see something like this! Whether it's this movie or something I make. I want him to see himself as a superhero, like we all can.
as i was watching the footage, i did notice a lot how her outfits looked kinda like "everyday" clothes. some variants like those really baggy shorts (which i almost thought was a skirt at first). basically, the outfits all looked pretty comfortable to wear so i'm glad you brought it up. (although i wonder how much harder they made it to fight)
Thank you for this feature. I'll watch this soon. Your channel never disappoints. ❤
I saw Chocolate when it first came out and was floored by the film. As a parent of a non-verbal autistic child they captured most of the behavior an autistic child has in real life little emotion but very caring. The fight scenes I picked up right away the styles of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. and her fight with Thomas was something I'd never thought I would see autism vs tourette syndrome. I still rewatch chocolate today and it's in my top 15 martial arts films.
Thanks for highlighting this seemingly forgotten gem! The best part of the review was the "The Fanatic" cameo - blech!
One of my favourite movies from Thailand.
This one has special place in die hard action fans hearts.
what an emotional movie this is, and feels very grounded
Growing up in thailand, trans woman villains is definitely a trope in thai movies
Really? Have any examples of films?
@@imcallingjapan2178 cant think of specific ones right now but growing up in the 90's i do remember trans woman with bad intentions shows up a lot on TV soap opera or movies.
Mostly kratoey are side joke characters on a "good" side on tv actually as I recall
So it being subvert of kratoey to acted serious as I see from that 2 films I presume
@@chin258456 I used to have an transgender aunt and every time kratoey characters appears the locals would call her by that character name.
I don't always agree with your pov in these essays, but I feel like you really nailed this one! Such great observations, especially in how the story and character serves to set this film above and apart from later movies that haven't served Jeeja as well. This is an absolute stunner of a film and probably one of the most underseen and underappreciated Martial Arts movies of the last 20 years.
Absolutely underrated movie and absolutely underrated actress
Im a long-time of of sub of you and still to this day im constantly surprised and impressed by your film knowledge and criticism. I'm Thai and a martial arts fan to boot so I have seen Chocolate (still have the Thai official DVD to boot) but I have never seen such great analysis from anyone. You Da Man Accented Cinema!
Thank you for this video! This is one of my favorite movies and I’m happy to see it getting recognized for the awesome action movie that it is
LOVE chocolate, & Raging Phoenix had some fun stuff in it, too!
Always appreciated the film and enjoyed your analysis. Thanks for this one.
LOL I love your last line. Another movie for me to watch. Thank you for the recommendation!
Thank you for a great essay, and for reminding me why I love this movie and it’s actress
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
I LOVED this movie! Glad to see it recognized.
Very insightful video. Thank you for the recommendation.
This is your first video that makes me cry watching it 😭
I watched this after seeing your community post and the fighting is insane. It's like a mix of Jackie Chan and The Raid. Definitely recommend if you like good fight scenes, which are hard to come by now-a-days, and all the fight scenes are bomb 💯
Watched it by chance, some years ago. Absolutely loved it.
Thank you for reviewing this unfortunately underappreciated movie! ❤
The final melee on the three story apartment complex is one of the most impressive stunt sequences ever put on the screen. Bone-crushing and operatic. What a hidden gem. So glad you highlighted this film.
I kind of thought it was a great tribute and homage to Jackie Chan movies with the fighting stunts on the multiple ledges in the side of a multi level building.
I remember having the same initial reaction to the movie. I thought her size made the action unrealistic. Granted, most fight scenes are unrealistic, but seeing Jackie Chan do the same movement as Jeeja is more believable from the sheer momentum of his mass compared to hers. My critique was too focused on the movie not looking like every other martial arts movies, so this video made me appreciate the movie more...I'll definitely need to re-watch it.
really appreciate the video. keep it up!
I saw this movie sooo long ago....this is a blast from the past.
Such an excellent ending quote, I really appreciate the tongue and cheek self awareness
Thank you so much for making this! When Chocolate came out I became obsessed with Jeeja! I do really hope she can have some breakthrough role that puts her on the global map because we need it! ^_^
I saw this when I was a kid and it's been a favorite ever since. A masterpiece
i'd thought NO ONE would cover this! I thought i was the only fanatic for modern action films (back in the day mis 2000s) i've kept up with this girl and studio also. definitely was an inspiration for me to try to become a stunt actor until all martial arts just stopped out of no where.
you always enlighten me on gems in asian cinema, thanks
Thanks for reminding me about Chocolate, I loved that movie.
bought it way back when. i did enjoy all the different action scenes. style variations etc.
Awesome movie I bought the DVD years ago. And shared with martial art friends. Your analysis is very good and touched a lot of key points about the movie, the artist, the action, and the social context.