Let's get this out of the way right off the top. When it comes to story, plot, and characters Ong Bak director Prachya Pinkaew's Chocolate is absolutely atrocious. The writing is weak and repetitive, the characters poorly laid out, and some high priced imported talent - notably Japan's Hiroshi Abe - almost entirely wasted. When it comes to the technical end of the film-making it is competent at best, with neither the cinematography nor editing particularly standing out. Yes, it's true that Pinkaew didn't have nearly the budget to work with here that he did with Ong Bak but even taking that into account you can make a pretty good argument that he's actually getting worse as a film maker from project to project rather than better.

Chocolate is not a great film. So why is it at TIFF? Because of it's star, Jeeja Vismistananda. The movie may be weak but Jeeja is astounding, a monstrous physical talent poised to explode on the international action scene just as Tony Jaa did with Ong Bak.

The story, such as it is, goes like this. A Japanese gangster in Thailand - the aforementioned Abe - gets his girlfriend pregnant before being run out of town by local forces. This leaves the local girlfriend broke and alone when she gives birth to her daughter, a bad situation made worse when it turns out that the little girl has a form of autism. As the girl grows it becomes clear that along with her autism she has incredibly quick reflexes and a sort of muscle memory that allows her to learn movements simply by watching them. You can guess what she picks up from the muay thai academy next door and the Bruce Lee films playing on late night television. Mother gets sick, girl finds notebook detailing money owed by old gangster associates and sets out to collect. Ass kicking ensues.

And many, many asses are kicked. Jeeja has trained since childhood in tae kwon do and was under the tutelage of Jaa's mentor Panna Rittikrai for a reported three years in preparation for this film. She's cute but she's fierce and absolutely fearless, blazingly fast and willing to lay her own body on the line to pull off complex fight moves and exceptionally dangerous stunts. How dangerous? Stick around for the out take reel at the end and watch for the hospitalized stunt man and the fall that put him there in the first place. It would've been nice to see a few more featured fighters for Jeeja to square off against in lengthy one-on-one bouts as opposed to the group knock-downs that the film prefers - there's only one real featured fighter other than Jeeja in the film, a twitchy capoera fighter - but the stunt sequences are jaw dropping and the take down moves so bone crunching that you'll be sprouting bruises out of sympathy for the performers.

Chocolate is proof that if you do one thing very well people will be willing to forgive all sorts of other problems. Citizen Kane it aint but, my god, it is an absolute rush of adrenaline, its star a mesmerizing force on screen. If you're a fight fan of any sort, notice has been served. There is a huge new talent on the scene.