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MOVIE REVIEW: "Ricky-Oh: The Story of Ricky"

RICKY-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY, directed by Ngai Kai Lam (1991, 88 min)

Welcome to another review from the Coolidge Corner Theater's fabulous midnight movie series!* Today we bring you an in-depth discussion of the merits of Ricky-Oh, a fabulous and truly heart-felt Hong Kong action flick which is only now making its theatrical debut in the US, thanks to the good folks at Media Blasters.**

Ricky-Oh begins by informing us that it's set in the dreary future of...2001. Hmmm. Maybe you wanted to think ahead a little more there, guys, what with the video market being what it is and all. Anyway. Let's just pretend we're doing the parallel universe thing instead of the future thing, shall we? It's really best to get your pesky expectations of realism out of the way right at the start, anyway. Otherwise your head might explode, which would actually be pretty appropriate...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So. We're in a parallel universe, and it's 2001. The opening title informs us that the prison system has been privatized, resulting in prisons-for-profit that exist only to make money, with no regard for the incredibly brutal conditions in which prisoners must live so that the greedy corporate heads can make an extra buck. Oh! I see! Our parallel universe is set in a world where the population of Hong Kong has somehow adopted the political system of the United States! Gotcha!

Anyway. We begin our sojourn with the introduction of some tough characters being brought to their new home, prison. It's probably a bad sign that there's blood on the ground where the van pulls up, yes? Yes. It's these subtle touches that really make the movie. No, I'm serious. If you don't think that's artful, you'll never make it through the next eighty minutes.

Here's the plot lowdown, the outlines of which will be familiar to anyone who's seen a tough-guy prison movie, ever: Ricky goes to prison. Ricky immediately shows off how tough he is and all the guards hate him. Ricky witnesses an innocent prisoner (naturally one who's about to get paroled) getting roughed up by the Big Bad Prisoners Who Add to the Torments of Prison Instead of Helping Their Fellow Men. Ricky steps in and shows them what's what, thus getting on their shit list as well. Parole guy ends up dead, providing fuel for Ricky's huge furnace of angst. Ricky walks around all mad and tormented. Meanwhile, the Average Joe prisoners rally behind Ricky as he heroically tries to avoid combat, even with the Bad Guys, with very little success. No, Ricky just can't avoid a fight to (you'll pardon the phrase) save his life. Oh, does everyone want to fight him! He's the most popular kid on the cellblock! We then move at a smart pace through the following subplots: 1.) The discovery that that his particular Bad Guys are the Gang of Four, leaders hand-picked by the brass to keep each of the four wings of the prison in line; 1a.) The prison is corrupt right up to the warden, the most ultra-violent of them all, and is being used as a front for a poppy farm; 2.) The revelation of Ricky's history, including: 2a.) A romance gone horribly awry (prison movies love their dead girlfriends, they do. Nothing like some flashback scenes to get you some nubile young flesh for the trailer while avoiding actually writing a female character!); and 2b.) The back story to Ricky's amazing strength, reflexes, ability to tie his own tendons together to finish up a fight, which (duh) involves his wise, vaguely mystical uncle teaching a young and cocky Ricky what it's all about. I do hope you've watched enough movies to predict how this will end: Ricky must fight each of the G o' 4 to their brutal, bloody death, and then face off with the warden for the climactic fight followed by much freeing of the Average Joes and cheering and yelling and woohaw.

So, there's not much groundbreaking here in terms of plot. And the production values could have been higher. And the music fails to thrill the heart. And the actor playing Ricky was clearly chosen more for his plump, shiny pecs than for his charisma. And the acting...It's hard to judge the acting, because the seizure-inducing hilarity of the dubbing kinda gets in the way, but based on timing and facial expressions, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's...bad. But there is one important way in which this movie distinguishes itself from the latest Van Damme debacle, and that's the killing.

What we have right here are some filmmakers who love their killing. They might've skimped on the sets, the actors, the writer, the lighting, the director, the costumes...but damn, there's love in those models of flayed corpses. These people are so into head-crushing, they want to show you an x-ray of it. No, not an x-ray of someone whose head was crushed. An action x-ray of the head-crushing itself. It's hard not to respect that kind of dedication. Ricky's specialty is his super-strength, acquired from Uncle by means of some airborne tombstones (don't ask), and so when he punches people, he kinda...punches through them. Yep, there are people with holes through them all over the place. Now in a wussy-ass American movie, those people would just die. But this is a KUNG FU movie, and we'll have none of that namby-pamby "ooh, I'm missing 45% of my vital organs, I'd better lie down now!" 'round here. Hell, no. If people stopped moving around once they got holes in them, there wouldn't be so much bleeding, would there? And what fun is that? Nope, these guys keep going for a good four or five completely, ridiculously, instantly fatal wounds (and five gallons or so of the red) before they give it up. There's also some really inventive developments in sadism, involving razors and concrete and burial alive, oh my. There are also some classics, like The Room With The Descending Ceiling, because you just can't improve on some things. Unless you add electrocution to the mix, of course. Which, of course, they did. There's also very little respect for the human eyeball.

In addition to the death (as if we needed more to love!), I have to give a nod to the villains here: the Gang of Four, including The Guy With the Tattoo, who is tough enough to strangle people with his own entrails, The Goth Tarzan, who can still talk with a hole through his jaw, The Groomed Guy, who can administer the Touch of Death, and The Pouty Guy With Boy-Band Hair, who explodes in a dumbwaiter. They're all so great, it's hard to pick a favorite! Then there's the Assistant Warden, who's the petty dictator type and has a candy-dispensing glass eye (nope, not exaggerating), and the warden, who, though preferring to dress like a matador who got attacked by a sofa, is still the toughest of the bunch. His final fight with Ricky is the best (if by good you mean really, really gross and silly, which of course I do).

One final note: in case I have not made myself clear, DO NOT watch this movie if you have an aversion to gore and violence. I don't want anyone coming to me with reproachful puppydog eyes, talking about how horrible it was and how could I like it and blah blah. This is one gross, brutal, non-redeeming piece of cinema. However, there are some winsome scenes of slapstick comedy to lighten the mood, so you know, it's not ALL horrific soul-deadening brutality. I'm not sick. All is well. Really!

*Ed. note: Please be aware that Hilatron is not above accepting kickbacks, if anyone is interested. In fact, if anything, it's possible that kickbacks look down their noses at Hilatron. Crap - gotta go - we hear her coming and don't want to get anything else thrown at us! Back

**Ed. note: C'mon, guys, that must be worth a buck or two. Eh? Eh? Back

Posted by hilatron at September 9, 2002 11:01 PM