Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

力王

Director~ Ngai Choi Lam

1991, Hong Kong

Stars ~     Louis Fan, Fan Mei-Sheng, Ka-Kui Ho

Written by   Lam Nai-choi &Tetsuya Saruwatari

Based on ‘Riki-Oh’ by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari

Legendarily so-bad-it’s-superviolently-good slice of hilarious macho-posturing, seemingly powered by the energy of a thousand adolescent boys after their first work-out. And then Ricky plucks out a flute (?) - but he also plays the leaf (!). It’s probably criticism-proof in the manner of exploitation films that are so knowingly over-the-top and outrageous that calling it out is futile. All the WTF?! enjoyment comes not only from the outrageous gore but equally from its moments of silliness and dubbing, and this mostly lasts until the showdown as there isn’t much story to follow.

Based on a Manga by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari, the set-up is simple: in 2001, all prisons are privatised and the inmates exploited (!) and super-powered Ricky is incarcerated for manslaughter. Inside, it’s all ludicrous villainy, stark and bright smashable sets, and vulgar, childish gore (it’s the early shower scene where the film signals that hilarious gratuity is the name of the game). But somewhere between the flashback where a graveyard is desecrating for a training scene and the grown man representing a spoiled bratty child, the realisation is that this has been tilted at comedy from the get-go (did I detect a hint of corpsing by the actors a couple of times?). It is well-made and edited, thinly written and is more Troma in its ersatz trashiness than genuinely “bad” by failing in its earnestness. Maybe it’s Fan Mei-Sheng’s performance as Cyclops Dan that is the first glaring clue that the film is in on its own joke. It is a manifestation of “And then he ripped his guts out and punched his head off!”, with the same unthinking joy of the playground.

And yet, strangely, despite all the bullying and abuse, none of it feels troublingly cruel or disturbing. It’s pure comic book in the shallowest sense. So come the end, you might think, “Why didn’t he just do that in the first place?”, but then you wouldn’t have been entertained by an absurdist, mindless slab of violence-entertainment.