Fist of the North Star (1986)

Hope is not on the horizon

By: JWBM

As the dominant species with intelligence on earth, we often contemplate altering our genetic make-up to transform ourselves into more than our destined path would have been: whether that be holding on to our youth, filling our brain with more knowledge, or making every attempt to further our physical abilities. Now take the world going into a post-apocalyptic age, where those with excessive physical strength and ability become a chiseled symbol of supremacy. Men with immeasurable muscles and the demeanor of true scumbags, are now treated with genuine fear and almost like false gods.

We fight for food and water, we fight for mating rights, we fight for territory, and, at other times, we fight to see who's the best. With a little bit of all of the above, "Fist of the North Star" opens up to a testosterone laden world of sheer savagery with little end, and puts the weight of it on the shoulders of one man: Kenshiro. He's got a tragic past and scars to prove it, he looks like Bruce Lee had a kid with Mad Max, and, ultimately, he's got a certain genuine inner character balanced with an outer strength that might just be the key to saving humanity from the dark and nearly hopeless path it's headed down. 

What's interesting about this story is it's not saturated with drama of what we've become as humans, it mainly hovers around the primal portion of ourselves on either side: whether we've gone full dark and embrace chaos and destruction, or, in a more rare case, embrace trained violence for the sake of righting wrongs in a lawless world. It's essentially the necessary answer to most problems here; it's also unintentionally comical for how doors are opened, or any bit of property is treated, because at this point who cares. Psychologically, it resonates in the same morbid curiosity of not being able to look away from seeing two thugs duke it out on the streets from afar, to a bigger bully being taken out by a hero of sorts that steps in. I feel that connects with our deep-rooted instincts in that we don't want to admit it's there in this day and age of technological advancement and emotional suppression. Take for example, when was the last time you said hello to your neighbor, versus when was the last time you wanted to say something angrily to your neighbor? This uses the bleak and barren backdrop to take several steps back to where it all began.

The animation was fresh, creative, and original for its time. It makes the scenes pop, and the interactions feel that much more powerful. Some detailed painted backdrops are used to show the lifeless and soul-crushed state of the earth: buildings are a vague reminder, along with any shred of green or blue. Other scenes offer up wide-eyed surprises when it comes to the fight choreography and certain character's abilities. One of the coolest characters here is Rei, who has an ability to slice his opponents into a series of pieces in these atmospheric slow motion cut-away shots. An interesting note is the change in picture quality for the extremely gory scenes; apparently the original version was lost and then later spliced together.

This is a simple tale that works due to having an epic feel to it. Being a condensed version of a multi-part manga, there are portions missing in between that would connect the dots better, though it still maintains an emotional connection to the roles, along with manages to steer from being just a black and white approach to good and evil. This takes your typical fantasy story of fate and what's written in stone, and then inverts it from the unexpected and what was "supposed to happen." You'll want to either root for the anti-heroes, or possibly even transform into them yourself to serve up some crude justice.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Toyoo Ashida (Vampire Hunter D)
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)

A hero with disregard for hierarchy

By: JWBM

This is the definition of perfectly-imperfect. It's the kind of film that is endlessly entertaining for all of its over-the-top and outlandishly excessive setups. It's like one of those friends that compulsively exaggerates everything they do enough that they grow a knack for it. You don't believe what you see or hear, but it fits the mood to be overlooked as another outlook. "Story of Ricky" knows no bounds, and has few limits to get a reaction and a rise from your senses. It's laughably cheesy and badly acted in every sense, but, man, is it inspiring in some far-out, demented kind of way. Some wish they could be him. Others wish they had him as a friend in grade school.

So who's Ricky? He's a buff, super-human, morally-steadfast guy in the near-future that gets locked up in a privately run prison for a crime he may have been justified for committing. Let's just say little is made in the way of looking like the future, but who's paying attention to intricate details here? He's surrounded by scum, and is incidentally a bully pulverizer with extraordinary strength they talked about in whispered legends to actually do something about it. I mean, going toe-to-toe with the Gang of Four—or Four Heavenly Kings in Chinese mythology—might be a statement in itself. He also cries for the lower man who can't help himself while throwing shadow punches at nothing in the rain. It's just the kinda complex being he is.

This has a simple set-up for any typical martial arts film to give an excuse to show off some fancy moves. Except this raises the bar not just a few notches, but makes a leap to the skies—which incidentally are pouring out red droplets in buckets. It's where Hong Kong kung-fu influence meets late '80s/early '90s Japanese levels of excess. Other manga source material has rivaled it in violence—think "Baoh," "Violence Jack," "Fist of the North Star"—though it's a one of a kind feature for being one of the goriest live action/martial arts movies out there. "The Street Fighter"—with Sonny Chiba, of course—gave it a push. "Story of Ricky" gives a shove down the most unforgiving of escalators and punches your head clean off for good measure.

Like an SNES or Genesis classic, such as "Final Fight" or "Streets of Rage," the film keeps you busy with an assortment of goons, gangs, and end-bosses. There's a hierarchy that should matter and is something you should be afraid of breaking. Though, this doesn't stop a guy who can literally punch holes in people and play tunes in key with nothing but a leaf. Instead of over-the-top Chuck Norris jokes, we should instead have them about Riki Oh: the man who's got the chiseled back muscles and high kicks to back it up.

The acting has that characteristic Hong Kong charm where we have to not only say what we're doing but over-gesture what we're doing as well. It's like they're trying to communicate with both the hearing and hearing impaired at the same time. Either purposely or by mistake, there's never a lulling point here. The filmmakers always seem to top themselves scene after scene. So much so, I haven't seen another film like it since. One could look at the story as one man's unconscious mission to clean up all the bad people in the world. They just happen to be locked up in one building trapped in there with him, not the other way around. Their do-anything-I-please egos—that got them in the slammer in the first place—are about to get checked in some of the most creatively violent ways. Break out the bleach and popcorn, because it's gonna be a messy, though entertaining ride.

Rating: 9/10

Director: Ngai Choi Lam
Actors: Siu-Wong Fan
Info: IMDB
Trailer: Youtube

Story of Ricky (1991)

Bullies beware!

This was a Hong Kong made martial arts film that was based on a Japanese manga. The result was a mash of cultural ideas that came with relating points for either society--unlike the usual competitiveness and animosity towards each other--and then who could forget plenty of violence that came out of the collaboration. If someone in passing just says "Story of Ricky" was gory it would be doing it a disservice, because this is quite possibly THE goriest martial arts film at that point, that's even over "The Street Fighter," "Lone Wolf and Cub" and others in the '70s when rabid audiences wanted to see copious amounts of blood shed when fists and blades connected with soft human flesh. This is more in line to the '80s ultra violent Japanese animes that took the fascination of carnage further such as "Fist of the North Star" that weren't as limited by what movements and characteristics they displayed. As a live action feature, the budget is going to be less grand in scope, though this still manages to capture some of the over-the-top and colorful scenarios that are usually only done in inked pen. Essentially you can transparently see its limitations at times but it still doesn't stop it from being effective and intensely entertaining partly because of those setbacks.

In 2001, all forms of government have become privatized and turned into franchises, including prison systems. It's the future mainly in mindset as it hardly looks like it apart from a few different aspects switched around. The prison is headed by a rich warden, his power hungry assistant, nameless guards and then four gang leaders in charge of their own cell block to keep fearful inmates in line. A bus full of new prisoners show up and regulars attempt to treat them as fresh meat. One of them stands out, Ricky, a complete mystery with superhuman strength and a strong conviction to the point of feeling no pain except when it comes to reference of his girlfriend, not to mention he's an expert flute player to the point of playing in perfect key and harmony with nothing but a leaf! He doesn't need an entourage to back him up, as each one of his limbs counts as a mini army anyway. You could probably substitute his name with any one of the current Chuck Norris jokes. The movie is ridiculously cruel and violent by making some of the worst prisons in the world look like a daycare center. The weakest literally get beaten into the ground until they're nothing more than helpless shells of themselves. Ricky shows up as a modern superhero with a strong distaste for bullies, which is how he got there in the first place, with bullets in his chest as a souvenir to show for it. There are some flashbacks that show Ricky was once in an overly happy, positive state. He's more an antihero than the usual Marvel or DC superhero fare that US readers are used to, though he still comes with the bulging muscles and rules to govern his conscience despite not being afraid to get his hands dirty from time to time.

This is kept fairly simple in that it's more a series of events than a typical layered storyline. Essentially Ricky has to single handedly dismantle the corrupt prison system by acting as a self-sacrificing martyr for a widespread epidemic that's gotten out of hand against other human beings. Part of that doesn't always work towards justice or righteousness as they're all criminals first and foremost, though the film does emphasize a few that were wrongfully locked up. Ricky doesn't always just jump right into the carnage as even taking the life of an enemy is still a life taken. He's more a televangilist's best friend with a tendency to cripple and humble his opponents, since he realizes in order to make a form of peace blood must be taken. There are more veins exposed and guts spilled than your everyday janitor would care to clean up. Punches don't just bruise, but decapitate and rip through mid sections. Makeshift weapons are plunged into people in the most cringe worthy and tortuous fashions. If there is a message to it, they nailed it home and then some. The special effects are all over the place with quality. Some of the simple wounds get the job done of looking nasty, though others, such as model faces and bodies, you can blatantly see its limitations. Especially when someone grows Hulk-like strength, it's hard to tell if it was on purpose or they just ran out of money and didn't want to cut it out of the script. Then again, this style of movie isn't going to be appeasing to a large share of audiences and that usually means less backing for all that snazzy stuff.

For what the story lacks, the over-the-top characters carry their own. There's the assistant warden who is so fat and greedy that you can't help but not like him. There are the gang leaders who have flamboyant dress and unusual abilities up their sleeves to keep things amusing, either by accident or on purpose--probably both. The synthesizer music ranges from fumbling around with filler to actually producing a harmony on occasion. The opening piece reminds me of some of the horror scores by Goblin from the '70s/'80s--maybe it is, you never know with Chinese films. "Story of Ricky" often falls short, but tries so hard while at it that it's easier to overlook its many faults and setbacks. The performances and English dubbing are going to catch more laughs than some comedies due to being the epitome of boisterous and exaggerated to make a point--the film doesn't know what the word reserved or subtle means, but who says it needs to? On the other hand, this has an enormous amount of random surprises in the form of contraptions and scenarios, inventiveness, style and enough eccentric characters to get by. This is an off-kilter film that invents its own rules and does things that are downright impossible and unimaginable outside of itself, but it does them well enough towards suspending your disbelief that it often thumps logic where other films would fall flat from some of the same shortcomings.

Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Ngai Kai Lam
Stars: Siu-Wong Fan
Link: IMDB