"Shakespeare's
Richard the Third in 21st Century Los Angeles" is the
tagline of King Rikki, directed by James Gavin
Bedford. Rikki Ortega (played by John Seda) was born in Los
Angeles, but his povertystriken mother gave him away to relatives
in Fresno. When Rikki reached the age of twelve, he returned
home for revenge, gradually learning how to navigate himself
amid two rival gangs in East Los Angeles, the Ortegas and
the Gavilans. At the beginning of the film, he arranges to
eliminate Alejandro Rojas (played by Adam Rodriguez) of the
Gavilan gang by bribing Alejandro's partner, who in turn he
kills rather than paying him off. Icing on the cake is Rikki's
desire to score with Alejandro's girlfriend Clara (played
by Jill-Michele Melean), which he achieves, and whom he later
dumps when she has totally fallen in love with him. Meanwhile,
Rikki arranges killings of all his brothers so that he will
become topdog of the only crystal meth supplier in town. However,
crooked cop Juan Vallejo (played by Mario Lopez) is onto his
scheme and eventually kills Rikki. The film features many
voiceovers, some Spanish dialog (not always translated in
subtitles), and a lot of monologues in which Rikki addresses
the camera (that is, the filmviewer) as "Mano."
The film is most successful in showing the ruthlessness of
Mexican gangs, the machismo of those who rise to the top of
the heap, the women who are eager to submit to their sexual
dominance, but not the horse that he might have exchanged
for his kingdom. MH
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