The One (2001)

The weakest link in The One is, sadly, Jet Li. While his fighting is fun to watch, his acting is horrible. It stars with an interesting idea, but it mostly jumps around from fight scene to fight scene without much development. The visual effects are fun in parts, but dated in others. Also, they needed to utilize Jason Statham more.

You gotta love cinema of the late-90's and early-2000's. It was a more innocent time. A simpler time. A time when broad, high-concept plot- lines and cutting-edge visual effects (at least for the time) were more than enough to put butts into seats and keep an audience entertained. A time when just the promise of seeing something new was worth a trip to the theater, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Ah, it was a magical time at the movies, indeed."The One" is definitely a product of this time period. A strange little footnote in cinematic history, the film is a mildly entertaining and also mind-numbingly silly exercise in style over substance. In a post-"Matrix" world, people were eager to see new and exciting things that the medium of Computer Generated Imagery could conjure up. And 2001 delivered one of the more intriguing ideas with this film. The idea that thanks to modern computer wizardry, we could actually see a world-famous martial-arts actor fight... himself.In a hokey pre-credits sequence, we learn that our universe is not the only one. Rather, it is one of many in the "Multiverse." Travel between universes is possible, but kept secretive and highly policed. An evil former "Multiverse Authority" (MVA) officer named Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li) has recently started a string of murders throughout the multiverse- killing off his duplicates and absorbing their energy. He believes that once he kills every other universe's version of himself, he will be granted godlike power and become "the one." And his only remaining target is in our universe... a cop named Gabe Law. (Also Jet Li) The two will be forced into a battle for supremacy- Yulaw wanting to become "the one" and Law desperate to stop him by any means necessary. It's Jet Li vs Jet Li in the ultimate struggle for the fate of the Multiverse....so basically it's a silly 87-minute cross between "Highlander" and that old show "Sliders."Directed by "Final Destination" helmer James Wong from a script he co-wrote with former writing partner Glen Morgan, if nothing else the movie is definitely a passable and watchable piece of action- schlock. The premise is just a weak jumping off point to set up the prolonged and genuinely thrilling fight sequences between what amounts to "Good Jet Li" and "Evil Jet Li," and you'll be able to forgive the shoddy writing and lame-brained character development if you shut your brain off for the relatively anemic runtime. High art this ain't. But good "dumb fun" it most certainly is.I quite like Jet Li in general, and it's actually a ton of fun seeing him portray both hero and villain in the same film. He's a really underrated actor, being more well-known for his fisticuffs than his emotion, and he shows off both his good side and his bad side with ease. We're also treated to the delightful Carla Gugino in a nice supporting role as Law's wife T.K. and an early turn from Jason Stathan as an MVA agent who comes to our universe and ends up helping out in the fight against Yulaw. The action is never anything less than enthralling and entertaining and the visual effects for the time were something to behold. While some of the CGI might be a bit dated by today's standards and you might be able to tell when Jet Li's face is pasted on top of a stunt-man's body during the fight scenes, it's a nice time-capsule and I think the dated quality gives it sort-of a quirky charm.Look, the fact is you're going to feel like your brain-cells are dying off while you watch the film. It's that silly and stupid. But sometimes... those are the best types of movies to watch after a long day at work or on a rainy afternoon while you're stuck inside. Those dopey movies that speak to our inner 13-year-old selves who just wanna watch some mindless eye-candy and not have to deal with complex characterization or compelling story lines. "The One" is not a good film. In fact, you could probably argue that it's objectively a bad film. But it's decent entertainment and perfectly fun action- schlock. And I think you could do a lot worse.I give it both a middle-of-the-road 5 out of 10... but also a reasonable recommendation for those who want something light and breezy to watch.

In 80s fantasy blockbuster Highlander, Connor MacLeod exclaimed 'There can be only one!' as he lopped off fellow immortals' heads and absorbed their power. In the ground-breaking 1999 sci-fi smash hit The Matrix, Neo was The One, a superhuman being with amazing speed and agility. In The One, a fun martial arts/sci-fi actioner that borrows ideas from both Highlander and The Matrix, Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li) hopes to become The One by killing off alternate versions of himself in numerous parallel universes, growing increasingly more powerful as a result.While this film might not be quite on a par with either of the titles it so blatantly borrows from, it does provide a whole heap of spectacular effects-packed entertainment, with blistering ballistic battles, amazing kung fu fights, and explosions galore as Yulaw tries to eradicate Gabe Law, the last of his doppelgangers. Extra firepower comes in the form of inter-dimensional agents Harry Roedecker and Evan Funsch (Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham), who do their utmost to apprehend the killer.Director James Wong (Final Destination and Final Destination 3) directs with gusto, employing state of the art CGI (at the time of release) and impressive wire-fu techniques to give his fight scenes maximum impact. The film builds to a hugely enjoyable, well choreographed climax in which Yulaw and Law duke it out in a factory, causing damage on a massive scale. A rocking nu-metal soundtrack also serves to enhance the impressive action. The film also earns bonus points for featuring not one, not two, but three versions of the lovely Carla Gugino.

The One is about the 'multiverse.' For anyone not up on modern sci-fi, that's the premise that there are countless different universes, all running parallel to our own. Here we see Jet Li, travelling from one universe to the next, killing the other versions of himself until there is only one left. The One, to be precise.However, he comes up against some resistance in the form of his 'last self' (also played by Jet Li), plus the ever reliable hardman, Jason Statham, as a multiverse FBI agent.The One came out between the Matrix 1 and 2 and many people said, why wait for the Matrix's sequel, just watch The One. I can see where they're coming from. The two films are certainly in the same genre, mixing science-fiction with slow-motion martial arts fight scenes.Personally, I don't think it's as good as the (first) Matrix and it may not have quite the budget of the sequels, but it's definitely worth a look for those sci-fi/martial arts fans.I'm not sure whether women would be The One's target audience, it may be more for the boys to cheer on as hapless extras are punched and kicked in all manner of unrealistic directions to the sound of pumping rock anthems.