Leofwine_draca
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.
welshnew50
The multiverse-premises as potentially plot-hole full as they are, in the shadow of star trek and some before it, particularly when it comes to the combinations of short-time escapes involving teleportation/matter-materialization , are sometimes of two main kinds of films, when in film - stinkers that have far too much self-importance with convolutions of plot-devices/premises that end up one way or another disappointing as the conclusion approaches/the film ends, usually with too much major-strings orchestral music , OR ones, that have a minimum of travel through sci-fi potentials-upon characters - in adversity - what the characters go through because of the sci-fi that wouldn't in a similar film set without it, that although often with less grandiose/over-importances , often have shallow characters in limited kinds of plot-development opportunity instead - not too many things of sci-fi-opportunities happening to the same character in one film 'principle' that makes ones that do, too absurd , then, too far away from the ordinary person.This film is more-so the former, but in an absurdly limited plot wherein there is, after, the realization aimed for, a vague sense of one-ness per the too-easy to understand title ... a sci-fi premise that WOULD affect everyone (or so the producers/writers would like to think/hope ), but because of the poor writing/editing , then is so pathetically narrowly aimed at a fraction of a fraction of a prison-acting-convinced-by-religion 'person', that it is totally discard-able , and should be resigned to the show-someone-and-see-how-they-react-then-throw-it-away category of not film , but exposure-content guised AS, film.The power-mad ambitions of the who is making these things? question posed by the chooser of content or freedom-giver of slaves in a sci-fi apocalypse, where people cannot help but consume exposure-content , 'genuinely' hoped to affect the people en mass ... *spit*.Pityfully over- confident if not not delusional , such aims ... as well as totally disrespectful of people's capacities to protect themselves mentally / choose content when OMG ... AWARE ... of such content being amongst other choices in the DVD bin.Seems powerful , but its hopelessly unaware of how something that might work upon prisoners in controlled conditions , does NOT work , in public / in such a freedom of choice - freedom of a beggar , is still a freedom in which to choose, etc.Don't try to connect with THAT guy , he's unappreciative, the dismal street-bug , with a surprisingly high resistance , from it being AROUND them , in the city , all the time , in contrast to protected , family and home , loving people , needing protection.Patronizing and if not delusional , then hopelessly out of date , in contrast to no-nonsense type films like the Tower ... people already not worth our time ... heads-explode. classic.Also has unnecessary prison-sadist content best worth FF past / cutting from the end.Also contains a obvious Judau-Christian reference that aims to pretend as though the sci-fi dimensionality theories of the over-excited in astrophysics , have somehow been there all along ... the comb-over of "god" , being in multiverses 'already' ... which as intolerable as it already is ... is so obviously placed on stage , as of the 'beleifs' , of the authority figures in charge of the technology (not theological-learning ) , that you'd have to be blind to miss it.Unnecessary hero-survives another close-shave moment action scenes beyond real-isms of the anti-hero, and impatiently-thought out / cheap camera-work at times, as well as annoying focus upon characters rather than whole scenes per newer hand-held-camera-work-period viewpoints, and a on-and-off audio with constant drumming-affects-heartbeat BS anxiety testing stimulations 'designed' , by the kinds of directors that think they are somehow 'preppers' , for ACTUAL care/treatments , as perceived only, by the INexperienced / over-sentimentalist.Little sentimentality itself, tho - skippable.On the positive side , some OK chase/fight scenes , but of the annoying neo-wrestlers can't be moved commercial-wrestling-franchises type standing-taking-damage gullibility-guff.The limit on the number of dimensions coming into the world/s of the setting is solid tho , perhaps because of the limited plot per my initial paragraph , but to its credit , the limits placed on the characters , particularly the difficulties of the two dimension-jumping police characters in contrast to the anti-hero , is done well enough to maintain enough consistency to follow that part of the plot without difficulty / character value in those two, perhaps, at most.If really not wanting to have to think too much when wanting to watch a sci-fi blast and feel temporarily invulnerable for a moment, and this seems to work for you , then maybe id think for that kind of rating, a 4 maybe a 6 at most, for a bonus star or two for the indirect extra-dimension jumping police's need to have to do some lateral thinking / quick thinking , in contrast to predictable patrol areas , usual amounts of different kinds of crime allocations of officers at different stations experience, etc etc - potentially imagination-expanding.Apart from that , little remains in comparison with much better sci fi.
varghesejunior
This flick is surely one of Jet li's best movies, even better than "Kiss of the Dragon" and "Romeo must die".The film is a sci fi thriller, which revolve around the idea that there are many worlds in this universe and everyone has a dupe in each world. Each time one dies, his energy gets divided among his clones on the universe.The protagonist's evil side in one world aims at killing all his dupes in the universe so he can gain all their strengths to become the undefeated "One", and so comes to earth to find and kill the protagonist, a NYPD cop on earth, who must do all he can to save himself.The storyline is fast paced, with good stunts on Jet Li's part and nothing draggy in the film. Also a lot of Rock and Metal has been used in the background. There is no vulgarity at all. Special effects make the film look very realistic.I recommend.
