The One (2001)

Film review #707

Director: James Wong

SYNOPSIS: A martial artist travels between multiverses in order to kill different versions of himself with the aim of being the only one left, which will apparently grant him God-like powers. He is caught but manages to escape into the universe where the last version of him is, and cop Gabe Law must find a way to stop…himself…

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: The One is a 2001 martial arts sci-fi film starring Jet Li. Jumping straight in to a multiverse themed plot. We see one man trying to kill 123 other versions of himself across the multiverse and absorb their energy, so he will be the last one left standing, which will apparently unlock some God-like powers or something. It’s not really explained in any detail since nobody has ever done it before. The premise is, however, somewhat similar to Highlander, where immortals face off to be the last one standing for some prize. It’s not too difficult to grasp either way. Essentially, Gabriel Yulaw travels to the universe where the last version of himself is, Gabe Law, and attempts to kill him, and Gabe teams up with a Multiversal Cop (Jason Statham) to stop him. The film is primarily a martial arts film, and doesn’t explore it’s world in any real detail, but that’s not what you’re here for. The fight scenes are good enough, and are fast and fluid, but generally don’t seem to accomplish much. With Jet Li playing both main characters too, there often feels like there’s very little to separate them, and to recognise who is who amid the fast-paced fights.

The runtime is notably quite short, not lasting even ninety minutes before everything is done. The characters and relationships are not built up as well as they could have been, and nothing really has any significance as the film goes through the motions. The sci-fi represents a bit of an interesting twist, but again, there’s not enough time to get into anything interesting. The film also feels a little dated, due to the early 200’s reliance on dressing all in black, leather, and a nu-metal soundtrack consisting of the most obvious nu-metal songs (did it really need to play “down with the sickness” in two separate scenes?). The One is really nothing significant, and is over and done with before anything is able to build up momentum. There’s some fun martial arts and action, but nothing that really establishes the world or anything with more depth.