“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