The One – Blu-ray Review

By Frankie Dees Apr 1, 2009, 14:43 GMT

In a stunning dual role, international action star Jet Li portrays Gabriel Yulaw, a police officer confronted with a sinister form of himself escaped from an advanced, parallel universe and intent on killing Gabriel. His alter ego\'s hunt culminates in a fateful battle between good and evil that changes Gabriel\'s perception of reality and forces him to examine the evil hidden within himself. The One features riveting martial arts and ...more

A film I'm annoyed to announce that I've seen three times, 'The One', once positioned as a star vehicle for Jet Li riding on his initial success of 'Romeo Must Die' is a science-fiction action film devoid of both effective sci-fi ideas and effective action.

With half-baked ideas (conjured up by co-screenwriters James Wong and Glen Morgan with Wong directing) The One is obviously trying to ride on the coattails of 'The Matrix' with a little 'Highlander' thrown in. Trying to establish a sci-fi universe so complex that no one will notice it doesn't make a damn bit of sense, clunky opening exposition lets us know that there are many parallel universes, each housing separate but parallel human lives in their own little universe sphere. Mmm kay. 

People have become aware of these separate universes and have established the technology to zip between, good thing too, as one dude named Yulaw (Li) has discovered that if he kills off his other parallel selves, he gains their power and if he succeeds in killing off all 124 other selves (equal to the amount of universes apparently but like most everything in this film, left unexplained), he becomes....wait for it...'THE ONE'!

What exactly he does as 'The One' is anyone's guess...sits on some multiuniverse throne and spit out thunderbolts from his fingertips? Regardless, the film starts off with Yulaw making short work of No. 123 with multiverse cops Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Statham) hot on his tail. 

The three manage to get stuck in a wormhole and transport to wherever the multiverse police station is but Yulaw's girlfriend Massie (Carla Gugino) helps Yulaw escape prison by a bomb-carrying rodent. Trust me; this doesn't make much more sense in the film.

Yulaw escapes to L.A. to try and off No. 124, LA sheriff Gabe (Li, setting up Jean Claude Van Damme's patented good twin vs. bad twin formula). 

From here, it becomes a predictable chase film with bad Li chasing down good Li with Lindo and Statham continuing their lame attempts to capture Yulaw. Each time a self is killed, their powers are distributed among the remaining selves which see the two Li's battle each other in a poorly choreographed superpowers battle. 

Poor ideas and fumbling, humorless dialogue might have been forgiven had the action sequences had any snap but there's unfortunately little here to appreciate, particularly if you're familiar with Li's Chinese films.

Picking up two CGI motorcycles and smashing somebody with them seems like it should have some verve but is par for the film with action that falls curiously flat. Ironically, only the last shot of the film, that of the massive penal colony, manages to capture the scope of what I'm sure Wong and Morgan were aiming for. 

Li, barely speaking English at this point, has no choice but to provide a strictly stoic performance even in scenes which require more a la Gabe's more quiet scenes with his wife. Lindo, Statham and Gugino all fill thankless roles and production design rounds out the overall disappointment of the film with a sleek blue, grey sheen obviously borrowing from 'The Matrix' but deciding not to rip off any of it's flair or depth. 

It's presented with a 2.35:1 1080p AVC encode and it definitely looks sharp and befitting of a recent high-budget special-effects film. Detail, depth and color are all spot on; there is very little to find fault with tech-wise which also includes the Dolby TrueHD 5. 1 track. 

Special features include a commentary with director and crew that's mostly tech-talk heavy, a 'Jet Li is The One' featurette which runs 13-minutes and looks at Jet Li's involvement with the film, 'Multiverses Create The One' featurette is a quick and arbitrary look at the science in the film. 'About Face', 'The Many Faces of Jet Li', 'Animatic Comparison', 'Previews' and BD-Live round things out. 

I've found little to like on repeat viewings with underwhelming action, stolid dialogue and some dated effects. Only Jet Li completists might find something enjoyable here but at least the Blu-ray specs are well done. 

The One [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.