good back-story, and good acting

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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 a plot twist already done to the death by the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Arnold Schwarzenegger, THE ONE features renowned martial artist turned actor Jet Li fighting himself. That's basically what the film is about, a straightforward action pic with a sci-fi story as an excuse to spend lots and lots of money on some pretty special effects. However this predictable movie plods along, offering a wealth of not entirely satisfying action, building up to an expected battle to the finish between good Li and bad Li. The setting? An abandoned warehouse, of all things. One cliché I am sick to death of is the old "abandoned warehouse" routine used as a setting for a showdown; I think THE TERMINATOR and ROBOCOP were the major movies of the '80s to first use this particular cliché but since then hundreds of action movies have done so and now I cringe every time I see one. What happened to a little originality? The only nice thing about the location is that we get a cool shot of Jet Li walking through a rain of sparks but otherwise it's seen-it-all-before stuff. The same can be said of the rest of the film.Jet Li walks through the multiple roles required rather straightforwardly; he's mastered the English language, but he fails to be scary or imposing as the bad guy (far from his hissably evil turn in LETHAL WEAPON 4) and he isn't nice or charismatic enough as the good guy. The supporting actors are adequate; Delroy Lindo (RANSOM) is commanding and strong as the cyber-cop and Jason Statham is good and funny as his partner. Carla Gugino makes for a nice female-in-peril, although her part is very limited.The science fiction premise is very basically done, full of plot holes. It's probably done more intelligently on TV's SLIDERS. The special effects of characters jumping universes and disintegrating as they do so are quite spectacular and worthwhile. The action sequences themselves employ lots and lots of wire work and enhanced computer effect fights in the style of THE MATRIX, with fast-motion, freeze-frames, and even computer generated opponents in some places. One shot has Li picking up two motorbikes (one in each hand) to bash some poor guy over the head - a fun shot, but not entirely convincing. Very pretty to look at, these artistic manoeuvres become so overused from the very beginning that the extended battle at the end becomes unfortunately tiresome, and the loud, grating score works against it. The colourful futuristic guns and plentiful explosions recall Schwarzenegger's less-than-satisfying THE SIXTH DAY and, like that film, THE ONE is a movie without a heart at its core; a big disappointment from the team who gave us the imaginative and frightening FINAL DESTINATION.

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.

*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS This little stinker rips off many movies : „ Matrix " , "Highlander" and even Van Damme's "Timecop". The lack of originality wouldn't hurt so much , if the movie was enjoyable . It isn't . It's a big budget B-movie . Crap fest from beginning to end.Director James Wong is mostly known for "Final destination" . That movie also had ridiculous idea behind the whole plot , yet it was quite enjoyable. Mostly because it had some twists all along the way and characters you could relate to."The One" doesn't have anything . The story is predictable from the beginning to the end , unless you have IQ lower than Forrest Gump . The characters aren't written at all . They lack depth and it's sad to see how actors struggle to give them some illusion of humanity.Compared to the movies I've mentioned in the beginning "The One" sucks terribly . "Matrix" basically pioneered the whole "bullet time" effect . "The One" rips off the "bullet time" so badly I almost died laughing. "Matrix" had substance and interesting universe . Don't look for that in "The One"."Highlander" had heart and affecting love story , not to mention great rock songs by Queen . Here the love story is dreadfully generic , the movie has no heart and the soundtrack contains awful modern rock songs."Tmecop" had many small twists that made it an enjoyable popcorn movie. Here you can guess every twist from miles away. Just how many times the intergalactic cops had bad Jet Li cornered ? And how many times you knew what will be the result ? "The One" is incredibly cheesy and annoying . The scene when Jet Li explains how he met his wife is one of the most pretentious scenes I have ever seen . The humor is incredibly cheap ("I will show you how to kill him") . The drama feels fake . There is no real plot and the characters just are . The double ending is laughable and sets a way for possible sequel (NOOOOOOOO!) I don't even want to waste time at some of the stupidity here . Why does Jason Statham talks to another version of Delroy Lindo about how much he respects him ? It's isn't HIS Lindo so why waste time ?! The good Jet Li without any training is EQUAL to the bad Jet Li who gained power from killing 123 victims (or something like that ). How ?! How does bad Jet Li know where the good one lives ? Why the multiverse government at the end sends the bad Jet Li to another planet instead of just killing him ?! Aren't they afraid that he will escape ?! Instead the were very eager to kill the good Jet Li who helped defeat him ?! I have to admit that the fights look really nice and they are photographed in a way that allows you to clearly see what is going on (something you can't always say about modern action movie with quick cut montage). Too bad that's the only good thing in the movie.I give it 1/10.