What little good that can be said about The One is easily summed up in this sentence: Jet Li fights himself.
The One (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:83
Fresh:11
Rotten:72
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: The One plays out more like a video game than a movie and borrows freely from other, better sci-fi actioners like the The Matrix. Also, Jet Li's martial arts abilities are buried under the editing and special effects.
Runtime: 87 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: THE ONE is based on the futuristic premise that there is more than one universe: there are many parallel universes, each of which contain a slightly different version of every person who has ever... THE ONE is based on the futuristic premise that there is more than one universe: there are many parallel universes, each of which contain a slightly different version of every person who has ever lived. Yulaw (Jet Li) is a rogue agent from the Multiverse Bureau of Intelligence who has learned that, by traveling from one parallel universe to another and killing the alternate versions of himself, he gains his counterparts's strength, speed and intelligence. After killing one hundred and twenty-three parallel versions of himself, Yulaw has gained almost unstoppable power--and there is only one version of himself left, Gabriel Law (Jet Li), a Los Angeles cop. Yulaw travels to the universe that houses his nemesis, followed by a pair of agents intent on stopping him from killing Gabe and either gaining near-Godlike powers, or destroying the fabric of all existence. Gabe is confused to find himself being hunted and shot at by himself, but with the help of his wife, T.K. (Carla Gugino), and the Multiverse cops (Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham), Gabe engages Yulaw in a series of spectacular fights to become the One. Glen Morgan and James Wong, creators of FINAL DESTINATION and several memorable episodes of THE X-FILES, direct this mind-bending martial-arts extravaganza. [More]
Starring: Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham
Starring: Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham, James Morrison, Tucker Smallwood, Mark Borchardt
Director: James Wong
Director: James Wong
Screenwriter: James Wong, Glen Morgan
Producer: Steven Chasman, Glen Morgan
Composer: Trevor Rabin
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Reviews for The One
Wong's efficiently creepy Final Destination was as much memento mori as teen disposal unit, but in The One the maze of death leads only to exhaustion.
I'm happy to report that Jet Li's fourth American film crosses the finish line as far and away the best of them.
A disappointing marriage of science fiction and action, with too much sci-fi nonsense and not nearly enough action.
This sci-fi/martial arts hybrid has the stale aura of a product assembled out of bits of other action movies.
Just another martial arts movie, and one that’s painfully short on imagination, as well as lacking in humour.
The One's script is just awful -- from premise to storyline to dialogue.
The sight of Li battling Li isn't nearly as exciting as it should be.
I guess you would call this a twin Jet movie. That doesn't quite take off.
A chaotic kung fu, sci-fi, rama-lama-dingdong on themes handled more originally by The Matrix.
Fans of The Matrix will hold their noses, as will those who put down sparring Arnold Schwarzeneggers in The 6th Day (now looking better).
Not a video game, but an incredible simulation of one trying to pass itself off as a movie.
It's the kind of movie ... where the hero is cheered not for the grace of his moves but for the number of rounds of ammo he can spray and the punches he can land.
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