Okay
I should probably preface this review by saying that THE ONE is the first Jet Li film I have ever seen. I realise Jet Li is now a pretty major international star, certainly in the martial arts world, but even today his movies are firmly rooted on Sky Moviemax, not daring to make the leap to Premier, and, perhaps somewhat snootily, this put me off for the past couple of years. I do recall when ROMEO MUST DIE was being trailered and a close friend of mine was insisting that this movie was going to be the best thing ever that I did consider going to see a Jet Li movie; however, when the trailer for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON was unveiled, I quickly forget about Jet Li and have managed to avoid him ever since.
Hence, I came into THE ONE without any real idea of what to expect. Sure, I wasn't totally ignorant of Mr Li and his abilities; I had caught an interesting show entitled MODERN WARRIORS on Discovery which looked at the history of martial arts throughout the ages, and Li was featured within. So, I had a rough idea that, for all intents and purposes, and certainly in Asia, Jet Li was somewhat of `The Man', but to me appeared caught somewhere between Jean Claude Van Damme and Jackie Chan in the martial arts hierarchy. This unfortunate position wasn't assisted by the fact that aside from ROMEO MUST DIE I had never seen a Jet Li movie open at my local Odeon. Very much a straight to video man, a la Van Damme (who is now moving into that very bleak straight to budget video area.)
Phew. Okay, with that out of the way, on to the review. THE ONE is a heavily influenced martial arts / science fiction flick that offers no apologies for the derivative nature of the script (and set pieces), and instead offers a slam-bam-thank-you-Van-Damme non-stop action-fest that at least partly was filmed to show off the unquestionably impressive physical abilities of Jet Li.
In the opening narrative we are introduced to the concept of the Multiverse. In a nutshell, the premise is that there is not one universe, but many; multiple and infinite universes where anything and everything is possible. And, most importantly, within these universes there are an infinite number of versions of you. That is: in one universe, you might be a billionaire; in another, the opposite sex; in another still, dead, or perhaps a junkie, policeman, hermaphrodite or whatever. The point is that there are an infinite number of YOU out there. And not just you, obviously (you're not that special), but everyone else, too. For example, in one of the universes we see that Al Gore is president of the United States. In another, that George W. Bush has passed a healthcare for all programme' into law (yeah, like THAT would ever happen.)
Now most people in the Multiverse are completely ignorant of it; that is, they are only aware of the existence of their own universe (and their limited knowledge therein, much like you and me within this one.) Hence, at one time, the Multiverse was seen as perfectly balanced' travel within universes was possible, but was illegal, and only an elite police agency, the MultiVerse Agency (MVA), were allowed to do so but this has now been threatened by the actions of Gabriel Yulaw (played by Jet Li.)
Yulaw is a former MVA officer who, in the line of duty, encountered and accidentally killed himself' in another universe in an act of self-defence. Subsequently, and unknown to both Yulaw and everyone else in the MVA, this act the removal of one of his selves' saw the life energy from the dead man transfer across to Yulaw, making him stronger, faster and more intelligent. In short, he absorbed the other man's energy. At the same time, all the other versions' of Yulaw throughout the multiverse also became stronger, faster and more intelligent; each living man received a share of the dead man's life force.
When Yulaw realises what happens, he becomes power hungry, and decides that he wants to become THE ONE that is, the only version of himself in the Multiverse. Nobody, not even the MVA, know what would happen if there was only one version of Yulaw left in the Multiverse; some say he would implode, others that the Multiverse would explode. Others still suggest that Yulaw would become a living God, and this is what he wants and believes. (And you must admit, it would be tempting.)
We catch up with the plot to discover that Yulaw has killed 122 versions of himself, and is now targeting version number 123 a rather unsavoury figure called Lawless (also played by Jet Li, as is every other version of Yulaw in the movie. One of the great scenes in the DVD, which I will get to later, is a short documentary piece about how they created and filmed all the different versions of the Yulaw character.) In this universe, Lawless is a prisoner, and by all accounts a junkie. The MVA are on Yulaw's case, however, and move to insure that Lawless is not killed. Heading the MVA team are agents Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Statham). Roedecker is the play-it-by-the-book cop, who outranks Funsch, and has to continuously keep him in check. Funsch, meanwhile, is a bit of a rogue, and wants nothing more than to kill Yulaw. Both Roedecker and the MVA know this is not wise, however, as we are told that there are only two Yulaw's left in the Multiverse! Subsequently, if one of them dies, the other could potentially become all-powerful, or worse, end life as we know it.
(I had a real problem with this plot development; either I missed something, or it was never explained why there were only 125 versions of Yulaw. The infinite possibilities' spiel that was offered to us on several occasions in the movie falls flat on its face if there are only 125 universes within the Multiverse. With only 125 versions of me, there's a healthy chance that I wouldn't be all that different from person to person, and certainly not to any level of extremity.)
The lower-level MVA cops look to move Lawless to a secure area, but are quickly dispatched by the arrival of Yulaw, who kills Lawless without much effort. Here we witness the real power of Yulaw (and the excellent movie SFX) we can see that he is incredibly strong and fast, that he moves at a speed that makes the MVA agents look and act slowly in comparison, and there are some neat fight scenes that show off video game type moves (I was made to think of KILLER INSTINCT in particular.) The agents can do little against Yulaw, and those that aren't killed or felled are quickly passed as Yulaw sprints away at speeds of up to fifty miles per hour!
It's only when Roedecker and Funsch arrive that Yulaw is apprehended, but only after some effort. Yulaw is taken back to the MVA headquarters (in another universe), via the most painful and violent time travel portal you have ever seen, and is sentenced to life imprisonment in the Hades universe. Once again he escapes, however, assisted by his girlfriend Massie (played by SPIN CITY's Carla Gugino.) It's a bit of a no-brainer where he is going, however, and Roedecker and Funsch trace and follow him to our universe, it being the location of the remaining and only living Yulaw' version Gabe Law.
Gabe is the good guy in the movie, and in our universe, he's a cop (just a regular one.) While he has no idea about the existence of the Multiverse or Yulaw, as his namesake has been methodically working through his kills, Gabe has seen the benefits, and both he and his wife, T.K. (played again by Carla Gugino) have seen Gabe grow stronger, faster and smarter. `People get older, they don't get stronger,' T.K. informs Gabe. And she's right. But there you go.
Things become a lot less clear, and then infinitely more so, when Yulaw arrives and tries to kill our Gabe. At first, Gabe, T.K. and all of his cop buddies think he might be going a little off the rails, particularly when he announces that the killer they are looking for is actually himself! His statement isn't exactly assisted by security footage of Yulaw who obviously looks exactly like Gabe attacking and killing police offers and staff at a hospital.
Once again, Roedecker and Funsch arrive, and manage to prevent Yulaw doing what he does best, but only temporarily. Yulaw quickly finishes off Roedecker, and also about half of the town's police force, using, amongst other things, a pair of Kawasaki motorcycles as batons (which is a really amazing bit of SFX and one of the most original martial arts scenes I've ever witnessed.) Funsch tracks down Gabe, and slowly convinces him of who Yulaw is, who Gabe is, and the consequences of Yulaw's actions. Gabe doesn't want any part of it at first, but when Yulaw kills his missus, he quickly adjusts his priorities. As he comes to terms with the death of T.K. (`She was my centre she made me whole ' is a particularly trite example of the dodgy dialogue during any romantic parts of this movie.) and his super-abilities, he and Funsch decide to track down Yulaw and kill him, even though Gabe realises that, should they succeed, he must die too (else he'll implode, the Multiverse will end, McDonald's will run out of quarter-pounders etc etc.)
So, now we have what the film has been building towards the inevitable showdown between Yulaw and Gabe Law. It's Jet Li vs. Jet Li folks, and they ain't taking any prisoners.
I'm not going to give away anything else here; I'm sure you can work out where the film is going, but I won't spoil it for you apart from saying that the closing fight scene is possibly one of the greatest ever staged, and that the actual ending of the film is really, really cool (it's one of those scenes you've wanted to see for years and years.)
Throughout the movie, both the battles and SFX are outstanding, and I would put this up there with THE MATRIX to which THE ONE unapologetically owes a bit debt in terms of the wow-factor. I really believe that in this film they've taken wire and blue screen usage in martial arts films to the next level, and while, as I said, there is an element of a showcase' here for Jet Li's talents, that isn't necessarily a bad thing when you're as good as he is. There are also strong elements of THE HIGHLANDER in here, particularly in the entire THE ONE thread (at one point in the film Yulaw even utters, `There can be only one!' which I am hoping was a nod towards THE HIGHLANDER rather than an out and out steal.) Having said that, there are parts of this film that surpasses anything seen in either of these films, and in particular the fighting methodology and delivery is many levels above that seen in THE MATRIX.
It certainly was not flawless, though; the dialogue throughout was questionable, particularly, as I said, in any romantic scenes between Li and Gugino, and even though Li has made leaps and bounds with his English since LETHAL WEAPON 4 (when apparently he couldn't speak even one word) it's obvious that the script has been written so not to stretch him too much. This isn't his fault per se, but it does mean that the dialogue is a bit, let's say, restricted at times. It's rumoured that Li studies English for four hours a day, so hopefully that will turn around soon.
And as I mentioned there were some elements of the plot that were glazed over a little too much for my liking, particularly those relating to the concept of the Multiverse. I also didn't like how Gabe Law suddenly' became super powerful I guess they were again taking a little from THE MATRIX with Gabe suddenly getting it', but it was a little too rushed for my liking. Indeed, the film would have benefited from another 30-45 minutes of background and pacing; I would have liked to have seen some more history of the two main characters.
Overall, though, I was very impressed, and the film kept me glued for the full eighty-five or so minutes. I'll be making a beeline for other Jet Li films now I've heard that FIST OF LEGEND, THE LEGEND and some of his other Hong Kong films are outstanding and who knows, I might even give em a bash on Sky Moviemax. And that would be a first.
RATING: 8/10
Hence, I came into THE ONE without any real idea of what to expect. Sure, I wasn't totally ignorant of Mr Li and his abilities; I had caught an interesting show entitled MODERN WARRIORS on Discovery which looked at the history of martial arts throughout the ages, and Li was featured within. So, I had a rough idea that, for all intents and purposes, and certainly in Asia, Jet Li was somewhat of `The Man', but to me appeared caught somewhere between Jean Claude Van Damme and Jackie Chan in the martial arts hierarchy. This unfortunate position wasn't assisted by the fact that aside from ROMEO MUST DIE I had never seen a Jet Li movie open at my local Odeon. Very much a straight to video man, a la Van Damme (who is now moving into that very bleak straight to budget video area.)
Phew. Okay, with that out of the way, on to the review. THE ONE is a heavily influenced martial arts / science fiction flick that offers no apologies for the derivative nature of the script (and set pieces), and instead offers a slam-bam-thank-you-Van-Damme non-stop action-fest that at least partly was filmed to show off the unquestionably impressive physical abilities of Jet Li.
In the opening narrative we are introduced to the concept of the Multiverse. In a nutshell, the premise is that there is not one universe, but many; multiple and infinite universes where anything and everything is possible. And, most importantly, within these universes there are an infinite number of versions of you. That is: in one universe, you might be a billionaire; in another, the opposite sex; in another still, dead, or perhaps a junkie, policeman, hermaphrodite or whatever. The point is that there are an infinite number of YOU out there. And not just you, obviously (you're not that special), but everyone else, too. For example, in one of the universes we see that Al Gore is president of the United States. In another, that George W. Bush has passed a healthcare for all programme' into law (yeah, like THAT would ever happen.)
Now most people in the Multiverse are completely ignorant of it; that is, they are only aware of the existence of their own universe (and their limited knowledge therein, much like you and me within this one.) Hence, at one time, the Multiverse was seen as perfectly balanced' travel within universes was possible, but was illegal, and only an elite police agency, the MultiVerse Agency (MVA), were allowed to do so but this has now been threatened by the actions of Gabriel Yulaw (played by Jet Li.)
Yulaw is a former MVA officer who, in the line of duty, encountered and accidentally killed himself' in another universe in an act of self-defence. Subsequently, and unknown to both Yulaw and everyone else in the MVA, this act the removal of one of his selves' saw the life energy from the dead man transfer across to Yulaw, making him stronger, faster and more intelligent. In short, he absorbed the other man's energy. At the same time, all the other versions' of Yulaw throughout the multiverse also became stronger, faster and more intelligent; each living man received a share of the dead man's life force.
When Yulaw realises what happens, he becomes power hungry, and decides that he wants to become THE ONE that is, the only version of himself in the Multiverse. Nobody, not even the MVA, know what would happen if there was only one version of Yulaw left in the Multiverse; some say he would implode, others that the Multiverse would explode. Others still suggest that Yulaw would become a living God, and this is what he wants and believes. (And you must admit, it would be tempting.)
We catch up with the plot to discover that Yulaw has killed 122 versions of himself, and is now targeting version number 123 a rather unsavoury figure called Lawless (also played by Jet Li, as is every other version of Yulaw in the movie. One of the great scenes in the DVD, which I will get to later, is a short documentary piece about how they created and filmed all the different versions of the Yulaw character.) In this universe, Lawless is a prisoner, and by all accounts a junkie. The MVA are on Yulaw's case, however, and move to insure that Lawless is not killed. Heading the MVA team are agents Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Statham). Roedecker is the play-it-by-the-book cop, who outranks Funsch, and has to continuously keep him in check. Funsch, meanwhile, is a bit of a rogue, and wants nothing more than to kill Yulaw. Both Roedecker and the MVA know this is not wise, however, as we are told that there are only two Yulaw's left in the Multiverse! Subsequently, if one of them dies, the other could potentially become all-powerful, or worse, end life as we know it.
(I had a real problem with this plot development; either I missed something, or it was never explained why there were only 125 versions of Yulaw. The infinite possibilities' spiel that was offered to us on several occasions in the movie falls flat on its face if there are only 125 universes within the Multiverse. With only 125 versions of me, there's a healthy chance that I wouldn't be all that different from person to person, and certainly not to any level of extremity.)
The lower-level MVA cops look to move Lawless to a secure area, but are quickly dispatched by the arrival of Yulaw, who kills Lawless without much effort. Here we witness the real power of Yulaw (and the excellent movie SFX) we can see that he is incredibly strong and fast, that he moves at a speed that makes the MVA agents look and act slowly in comparison, and there are some neat fight scenes that show off video game type moves (I was made to think of KILLER INSTINCT in particular.) The agents can do little against Yulaw, and those that aren't killed or felled are quickly passed as Yulaw sprints away at speeds of up to fifty miles per hour!
It's only when Roedecker and Funsch arrive that Yulaw is apprehended, but only after some effort. Yulaw is taken back to the MVA headquarters (in another universe), via the most painful and violent time travel portal you have ever seen, and is sentenced to life imprisonment in the Hades universe. Once again he escapes, however, assisted by his girlfriend Massie (played by SPIN CITY's Carla Gugino.) It's a bit of a no-brainer where he is going, however, and Roedecker and Funsch trace and follow him to our universe, it being the location of the remaining and only living Yulaw' version Gabe Law.
Gabe is the good guy in the movie, and in our universe, he's a cop (just a regular one.) While he has no idea about the existence of the Multiverse or Yulaw, as his namesake has been methodically working through his kills, Gabe has seen the benefits, and both he and his wife, T.K. (played again by Carla Gugino) have seen Gabe grow stronger, faster and smarter. `People get older, they don't get stronger,' T.K. informs Gabe. And she's right. But there you go.
Things become a lot less clear, and then infinitely more so, when Yulaw arrives and tries to kill our Gabe. At first, Gabe, T.K. and all of his cop buddies think he might be going a little off the rails, particularly when he announces that the killer they are looking for is actually himself! His statement isn't exactly assisted by security footage of Yulaw who obviously looks exactly like Gabe attacking and killing police offers and staff at a hospital.
Once again, Roedecker and Funsch arrive, and manage to prevent Yulaw doing what he does best, but only temporarily. Yulaw quickly finishes off Roedecker, and also about half of the town's police force, using, amongst other things, a pair of Kawasaki motorcycles as batons (which is a really amazing bit of SFX and one of the most original martial arts scenes I've ever witnessed.) Funsch tracks down Gabe, and slowly convinces him of who Yulaw is, who Gabe is, and the consequences of Yulaw's actions. Gabe doesn't want any part of it at first, but when Yulaw kills his missus, he quickly adjusts his priorities. As he comes to terms with the death of T.K. (`She was my centre she made me whole ' is a particularly trite example of the dodgy dialogue during any romantic parts of this movie.) and his super-abilities, he and Funsch decide to track down Yulaw and kill him, even though Gabe realises that, should they succeed, he must die too (else he'll implode, the Multiverse will end, McDonald's will run out of quarter-pounders etc etc.)
So, now we have what the film has been building towards the inevitable showdown between Yulaw and Gabe Law. It's Jet Li vs. Jet Li folks, and they ain't taking any prisoners.
I'm not going to give away anything else here; I'm sure you can work out where the film is going, but I won't spoil it for you apart from saying that the closing fight scene is possibly one of the greatest ever staged, and that the actual ending of the film is really, really cool (it's one of those scenes you've wanted to see for years and years.)
Throughout the movie, both the battles and SFX are outstanding, and I would put this up there with THE MATRIX to which THE ONE unapologetically owes a bit debt in terms of the wow-factor. I really believe that in this film they've taken wire and blue screen usage in martial arts films to the next level, and while, as I said, there is an element of a showcase' here for Jet Li's talents, that isn't necessarily a bad thing when you're as good as he is. There are also strong elements of THE HIGHLANDER in here, particularly in the entire THE ONE thread (at one point in the film Yulaw even utters, `There can be only one!' which I am hoping was a nod towards THE HIGHLANDER rather than an out and out steal.) Having said that, there are parts of this film that surpasses anything seen in either of these films, and in particular the fighting methodology and delivery is many levels above that seen in THE MATRIX.
It certainly was not flawless, though; the dialogue throughout was questionable, particularly, as I said, in any romantic scenes between Li and Gugino, and even though Li has made leaps and bounds with his English since LETHAL WEAPON 4 (when apparently he couldn't speak even one word) it's obvious that the script has been written so not to stretch him too much. This isn't his fault per se, but it does mean that the dialogue is a bit, let's say, restricted at times. It's rumoured that Li studies English for four hours a day, so hopefully that will turn around soon.
And as I mentioned there were some elements of the plot that were glazed over a little too much for my liking, particularly those relating to the concept of the Multiverse. I also didn't like how Gabe Law suddenly' became super powerful I guess they were again taking a little from THE MATRIX with Gabe suddenly getting it', but it was a little too rushed for my liking. Indeed, the film would have benefited from another 30-45 minutes of background and pacing; I would have liked to have seen some more history of the two main characters.
Overall, though, I was very impressed, and the film kept me glued for the full eighty-five or so minutes. I'll be making a beeline for other Jet Li films now I've heard that FIST OF LEGEND, THE LEGEND and some of his other Hong Kong films are outstanding and who knows, I might even give em a bash on Sky Moviemax. And that would be a first.
RATING: 8/10