In an era before Netflix, B-tier action movies used to come out in theaters, rather than being ported straight to streaming. Think “Timecop,” “Under Siege,” “Kickboxer,” or pretty much any other movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal. You could even add some Sylvester Stallone movies like “Cobra” into that mix. By 2001, a lot of the camp style of the late ’80s and ’90s was fading from the genre, but that didn’t stop Jet Li and Jason Statham from adding one more ridiculous, critically panned, but still fun sci-fi actioner.
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“The One” is a movie about the multiverse long before that was cool. Directed by frequent “X-Files” scribe James Wong, it follows Li as Gabe Law, a regular police officer on a regular version of Earth. Li also plays Gabriel Yulaw, an evil version of Gabe from another universe. Yulaw was once an agent of the MultiVerse Authority, or M.V.A. — a group responsible for keeping all things in balance cosmically. But Yulaw goes bad when he realizes that for every version of himself that he kills, he becomes stronger.
The title of the film comes from this idea. Yulaw seeks to murder every other instance of himself across the multiverse — 124 instances in total — to become “the one,” a supremely powerful being who wields the strength of them all in a single body.
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The One is classic sci-fi nonsense
It’s interesting going back to “The One” now given the recent success of multiverse films, especially “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” as both movies blend the kung fu and sci-fi genres. The film is also notable for being one of Jason Statham’s first major film roles, with “The One” premiering just three years after his debut in Guy Ritchie’s “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”
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Li, on the other hand, had been acting for many years, but he was just starting to get bigger in the American market after having a ton of success in Chinese and Hong Kong martial arts movies. Prior to “The One,” Li had begun to dip his toes more into Hollywood with movies like “Lethal Weapon 4” and “Romeo Must Die,” proving himself in the English-language market. Also featured in the cast are Carla Gugino, best known these days for her collaborations with horror maestro Mike Flanagan, and Dean Norris, who would later reach major fame by playing Hank Schrader on “Breaking Bad.”
“The One” didn’t do horrible at the box office, but it didn’t do great either, grossing just under $80 million on a reported budget of about $49 million. It didn’t earn terribly high marks from critics either and currently holds a dismal 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. But if you enjoy the schlock of a good ol’ sci-fi kung fu movie made slightly on the cheap (and who doesn’t, really?), it’s still a fun watch. And it’s only more interesting because of how closely details like the M.V.A. mirror plotlines like the TVA from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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The One is still worth watching two decades later
They just don’t make ’em like “The One” anymore. That’s probably because of all the bad reviews, sure, but it’s still a shame. Hollywood used to be a place where you could make small-to-medium-budget genre movies with lackluster scripts but a lot of oomph and some stars good at kicking, and that was enough. For anyone nostalgic for that age gone by, maybe this is your sign to give “The One” a watch. Is it one of the best Jet Li movies? No, but is it one of the best Jason Statham movies? Also no. But it’s better than “Timecop,” and that has to count for something, right? I’m doing a bad job of selling this, I can tell.
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Look, if for no other reason, the film is worth revisiting for the final scene alone, which involves Jet Li fighting off an endless stream of interdimensional criminals from the top of a ziggurat in space, all backed by Papa Roach’s “Last Resort.”
So yeah, it’s pretty good.
