A Hong Kong martial arts movie based on a Japanese manga,
Riki-Oh is a strange one. It begins with the titular fighter (played by Fan Siu-Wong) being incarcerated in a privatised prison, a facility with a stylised use of space. He quickly gets on the wrong side of the prison's deadliest occupants, including a hook-handed assistant warden. However, the greater the challenge, the more determinedly the super-human Ricky rises to meet it.
The infamous level of violence in the film is over-the-top ridiculous, but it occasionally crosses the line into gorily disturbing. Happily, the simplistic plot does at least attempt to give Ricky a streak of noble sensitivity.
Fei Lit Chan's minimalist, almost Carpenter-esque music was my favourite part.
2½ chest bullets out of 5
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