The Last Shogun of North Philly is a 55-page action script written by Kevin Overton and set in a modern Philadelphia where Shoguns are ruling the city. Each part of the city has its own Shogun to protect them, and they are all led by a head Shogun.

The head Shogun, Mack Steel, knows he’s ready for retirement and would like to hand over his title to his son, who unfortunately doesn’t want anything to do with martial arts, but is passionate about fashion design. The other Shoguns are therefore ready to fight for the soon-to-be-vacant position.

It’s peculiar how the Head Shogun addresses his martial art as Kung Fu — the Chinese martial art — instead of referring to the Japanese one. In addition to that, there is no incorporation of the authentic Japanese traditions inherited from Japanese Shoguns into this script. Perhaps this is an indication that most elements of the original military dictators got lost during the assimilation of the traditions by the people of Philadelphia.

The script is fun to read, the fight scenes are easy to follow and engaging. The costumes seem to be a crucial part of this film, as each Shogun has his specific style.

The dialogues within the Steel family are well written. However, they always seem to stay on a superficial level. Mack’s 23-year-old son Rodney doesn’t seem to be suffering from his father’s extreme bullying. Mack’s wife Belle, a hard worker who at first seems to be very protective of her own son, accepts gladly when Mack deprives his son of his most precious thing, the only thing that will allow him to leave the city and make a life for himself, away from the violence of Shoguns.

The narrative is a bit bumpy, the obstacles created in the script don’t get solved and the writer is leaving an open ending for a possible sequel.

Overall a good and unusual script, where the modern Western world mix with antique Eastern traditions to create a tiny world of action, violence, and style.