Review of The One (2001) by Jason D — 14 Apr 2010

In The One, a demented former Universe patrol agent (Jet Li) goes from Universe to Universe, killing his alternate self and gaining their energy. After killing one, he is captured by fellow agents Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham (in an early role) and before he is sent to a Hell-like underworld, Li escapes to one more Universe where the second to last Li remains.

A devoted cop and husband, this alternate Jet Li has also been equally gaining the energy from other fallen Li's and questions this new-found strength and power, especially when he has to go head to head with his evil alternate self in a battle of epic science fiction proportions! As cool as this movie sounds and sometimes comes off in some scenes, the end result is a big disappointing.

If it's not the constant nu-metal music blaring in the background, it's a lot of odd moments that flow awkwardly and give this film a bit of a dated feel. I commend writers Glen Morgan and James Wong (who also directed) for trying to put together such an awesome sounding film, but a little more time and effort could have helped this movie from seeming so rushed and outdated.

The original lead was to be Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, which makes me wonder what this film really could have been. The only downfall of that would have been the exclusion of some awesome martial arts, which this film does in fact have.

Overall, not bad, but I was expecting so much more. Good cast though.