everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Live action adaptations of manga and anime have always been sort of a hit or miss affair with me, but this film is a hit a very powerful hit because it was one of those rare adaptations that actually work.This is one of my favorite films of all time. I really like the story, which is a simple story which is common in most shonen manga, but most importantly it works because it's straight to the point no complicated nonsense to make things come to a painfully screeching halt.I really like the protagonist Ricky, the actor Fan Siu Wong I thought was really solid and cast perfectly, he physically fits the role he really looks like the character straight out of the manga. And he's a good martial artist, it's a shame this guy didn't become a big martial arts star I thought he had potential. But anyway, Ricky is a protagonist that is sympathetic, he's a good natured man despite breaking the law but the people he killed weren't innocent as we see in a flashback they killed his significant other for no good reason. He does respect the law and was willing to pay the price. And he's not a man looking for trouble but unfortunately he just went to the place that's a hive of trouble.The real bad guys are the Warren, Boss, and their cohorts that all are really evil and are all under the guise of the law. They just want to twist and manipulate the law for their own selfish benefits, while breaking anyone that abides and respects it. From the awful things this organization does it just all the more makes you want Ricky to punish them, make them pay the price.And the film/manga is almost kinda a Christian film as there is some Christian allegory in places like seeing someone hanging from a cross. As well as Ricky being buried alive and risen for seven days much as Jesus was entombed and then risen once more after the days were up. There are Christian themes like redemption and spiritual empowerment.However just like the manga were all really in this film for the fights and the effects with it which are great. This film was done on a modest to low budget but it used well and right because they put effort into their craft, once again an example another limited budget film that doesn't disappoint.Like with all shonen manga/anime, I love the idea of superhuman martial arts. Ricky's style is sort of one based on harnessing Chi and making that energy external and empower your body making both one. The way it's executes it's fun to think this could be a real martial arts technique that works.Some scenes and fights really look like the manga panels come to life, in fact they use most to all of the manga panels as their storyboard to make the film. The chirography and gore effects are all great and just seeing the execution of them made me wonder why the hell couldn't the two live action "Street Fighter" movies be as much fun as this; you see Ricky and his opponents use the superhuman power moves and techniques against each other which is just jaw dropping and awesome.Like in one battle you see Ricky fight against a big muscled guy and he literally punches though the guys fist. Another with some guy armed with knitting needles and steel wire, hitting Ricky at some points of the fight which I'll admit hurt me just seeing that steel wire wrap around his body, ouch.Though my favorite one on one battle in the film was with the boss that just Hulks up and he looks like the video game boss Abobo from "Double Dragon". The guy is a fraking beast, I won't say more about the fight you have to see it for yourself to believe it, but I wouldn't recommend eating anything while watching.Ricky Oh packs a punch.Rating: 4 stars

Riki Oh is a Hong Kong production based on a Japanese manga (comic book ). The Story Of Ricky is also very unique as I've seen hundreds of HK movies and I 've not seen anything else quite like it from there. Riki Oh takes place in a dystopian future where prisons are privatised , completely corrupt and its prisoners are brutalized by their sadistic wardens . In a very over the top comic book style The Story Of Ricky combines splatter with kung fu. Ricky has superhuman strength and deadly martial arts skills . He has become a hero to his fellow lnmates by standing up to these thugs. Rated Category III (X or NC 17 equivalent ) for violence alone , Ricky punches through walls as well as human flesh. Bodies explode , people get disemboweled, impaled, crushed and thrown in the meatgrinder. This is much more for gore hounds than your average kung fu fan, however as a fan of both gore /horror and action /martial arts I enjoy this film. Check out the bad guy from Daughter Of Darkness 1and2 as the evil warden.

This movie is simply super sadistic, super gore, super bloody yet super funny and even somewhat moralistic story. It's simply "a ride", brutal, sadistic, cruel, nationalistic, anti-drug, anti-capitalistic...Oh yes - and it has hero that makes Rambo look as a old man on retirement and X-Men as a bunch of elderly people feeding birds in the park. I have read some opinions that Western super heroes do suck somewhat. After seeing The Machine Girl and this movie I just have to agree that all these spider-bitten transsexuals so easily paralyzed with Kryptonite or whatever are derivative, pathetic and boring. All the super villains are weak and laughable as well, we have more nasty super villains in European Parliament.But in this movie - well, the villains are really different league and the fights and "punishments" from villains are so brutal in the beginning that you just wonder how they could possibly escalate towards the end. They COULD escalate and basically this is way rougher than Russian military movie. The most bizarre thing is that movie keeps its political contents and yet somewhat manages so be in a very bizarre way funny and laughable as well.There is somewhat seriously wrong and twisted in minds of Asian people for sure. I have never seen something so cruel, bizarre yet funny in Western cinema. Most recommended for those who can swallow such twisted fun!

Exploding heads, self-disembowelment and unstoppable punches. What are you looking for in your kung fu movies? If this is it then you've come to the right place! Unlike all those yawn fest karate movies where no one gets hurt and fighting scenes go on and on without a slightest drop of blood, Riki-Oh is a fountain of blood in a desert of boredom. Riki-Oh will take you on a blood soaked ride so violent and so beautiful you'll have a new description for what you want in a movie.Ricky is a martial artist expert who is going to jail for the murder of a man who was indirectly responsible for his girlfriends suicide. Once in the prison Ricky realizes the warden, an over-weight one eyed pornography addict is illegally growing opium and killing prisoners. Ricky is compelled to defeat the Gang of Four who rule over the four wings of the prison and free the prisoners. We quickly find that Ricky is an expert in Qigong a mystical style of kung-fu that gives him the power to literally punch and kick through people.The film itself is surprisingly beautiful. The shots all feel very symmetrical and well thought out, the colors work very well to create an almost comic book atmosphere and the scenes are dramatic and fast moving. What really makes Riki-Oh special is his Qigong kung fu style. He has the power to rip peoples faces off and punch through their stomachs. The gore is done in such an exaggerated fashion that instead of the film being gut wrenchingly disgusting it feels much more like a cartoon. And for good reason too! Riki-Oh is based on a successful Magna and two animated films. The adaptation is nearly perfect! The film is something that should be seen to be believed.This is director Lam Nai-choi's most famous film. Lam also directed the incredible Seventh Curse and is a favorite. His ability to mix comedy, gore and sci-fi is something extremely unique and feels fresh even today. His framing is thoroughly thought out in Riki-Oh and it shows the whole way through. The film is tight and fast moving. Other kung fu films and action in general should take notice! This film is a cult favorite for a reason.