Son of Shaolin

LIBRARY JOURNAL -- An aspiring street artist with a job and a few good friends, Kyrie isn't interested in some cheesy offer to fulfill his destiny as descendant of a Shaolin Elder and save the free world. But when the mysterious Master Fong connects the challenge to Kyrie's absent father, the young man seizes on what all children of absent fathers wish to hear: that his father deeply loved him and stayed away to protect him, not from hate or disinterest. So Kyrie trusts his mentor, trains hard, and finally fights his adversary. Yet things are not as they seem, and Kyrie chooses to rise above Fong's demands. Moreover, the battle is not yet over. While screenwriter Longino's plot seems similar to many other martial arts dramas, the closing twists add depth and suspense. White's (The Harlem Hellfighters) lively art hits the top of the scale for excitement, realism, and design. In addition, Diego Rodriguez's colors imbue the settings from seedy hotels to Harlem sewers with moody, glowing ambiance. VERDICT Kung fu aficionados will enjoy this new variation on a beloved theme with hip-hop and urban trappings. [Film rights were recently sold to Sony/Columbia Pictures.-Ed.]-MC