The One (2001 film)


The One is a 2001 American science fiction action film directed by James Wong, written by Wong and Glen Morgan, and starring Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Carla Gugino, and Jason Statham.
The film, which deals with the concept of multiverses and interdimensional travel, follows Gabriel Yulaw, a rogue agent who travels to parallel realities in order for him to kill other versions of himself to become a mythical super-being known as "The One". Li plays a dual role as Yulaw and Gabe Law, an LASD cop who teams up with a multiverse agent to prevent Yulaw from becoming the One.
The film was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures on November 2, 2001 and received negative critical reviews.

Plot

Gabriel Yulaw, once an agent of the MultiVerse Authority, an agency that polices interdimensional travel via wormholes, seeks to hunt down all variations of himself in alternate universes. By killing 124 versions of his other selves and absorbing their life energies, Yulaw believes that he will become a superpowered-godlike being called "The One".
After killing Lawless, the 123rd variation of himself in the Anubis Universe, Yulaw is soon captured by MVA agents Rodecker and Funsch and taken back to the MVA headquarters in the Alpha Universe. During a trial in which he is sentenced to life in the Stygian penal colony on the Hades Universe, Yulaw manages to escape and teleports to the Charis Universe to hunt the last variation of himself.
The last known variation, Gabe Law, is a police officer working in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. For two years, Gabe has been experiencing increases in strength, speed, and mental ability, but neither he nor his wife T.K. can understand why. While transporting a prisoner, Gabe "feels" Yulaw's presence just before he attempts to kill him. Yulaw escapes but is followed by Gabe, who inhumanly leaps over a very high wall. Landing on the other side, Gabe is shot and wounded by Yulaw. As Yulaw is about to finish him off, he's interrupted by Rodecker and Funsch.
Gabe realizes that Yulaw is identical to him in every way. Unfamiliar with the interdimensional travel concept, Gabe finds Yulaw's appearance shocking. After checking into the hospital, Gabe is ambushed by Yulaw, which Rodecker and Funsch again foil. Yulaw deters them from shooting him because if he is killed, Gabe would then be left as the One. Dressed alike and identical to each other, Gabe and Yulaw's battle confuses Gabe's police colleagues. Both Gabe and Yulaw manage to escape the hospital.
Rodecker is faced with a dilemma: they have to capture Yulaw but cannot kill him or allow Gabe to be killed because whoever survives will become the One, which could have catastrophic damage to the multiverse. Funsch insists that Yulaw, as the instigator, must be dealt with in more aggressively. Rodecker makes a fateful decision to "go way off procedure," and both split up. Rodecker pursues and fights Yulaw but is killed when the latter breaks his neck.
Funsch catches up with Gabe and explains the multiverse theory, along with Gabe's abilities to him. Yulaw hides in Gabe's residence, where T.K., believing him to be Gabe, attempts to protect him, but she senses that "Gabe" is not her husband. Gabe arrives, only to have Yulaw force him to watch while he kills T.K. Funsch finds a guiltridden Gabe and both team up to find Yulaw at the next wormhole.
Gabe and Funsch arrive at an industrial plant, where they encounter and fight Yulaw. Funsch is easily defeated, and the final battle between Gabe and Yulaw takes place. They fight evenly for a moment, but Yulaw is superior than Gabe, he quickly overpowers and nearly defeats Gabe. Remembering his own martial arts form, Gabe uses his own abilities, gains the upper hand, and wins. Gabe gets caught in the wormhole, along with Yulaw and Funsch, as they return to the MVA headquarters.
Yulaw is transported immediately to the Hades Universe after a failed attempt to switch places with Gabe. The MVA then prepares to send Gabe back to his own universe, where he will be arrested and put into prison for the crimes that Yulaw committed. Recalling an earlier conversation with Gabe, Funsch sends him to a different universe in which Gabe can have a normal life again from when he first met T.K.
Meanwhile, Yulaw, now on the penal colony in the Hades Universe, declares he that will still become the One and then proceeds to battle a prison inmate. The camera than pulls back to show an army of other prison inmates taking on Yulaw on top of a ziggurat.

Cast

Originally the film was to have starred with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, before Li assumed the lead role.
The hospital scenes were filmed at the North Hollywood Medical Center.
The documentary Jet Li is 'The One on the special features section on the DVD explains that both Gabriel Yulaw and "Gabe" Law use martial arts that represent their personalities. Yulaw uses Xingyiquan, characterized by aggressive linear movements, while Gabe uses Baguazhang which uses subtle, circular movements. These martial arts are confirmed by their own personalities as Yulaw is very direct, not caring whom he hurts, while Gabe believes life goes in a circle, perfectly balanced.

Background information

As part of the promotion for the movie, there was an official website for the fictional Multiverse Authority called the "MVA Mainframe". Although the site is now defunct, it provided detailed background material on the storyline and some of the characters, including some that were not in the film.

Soundtrack

The score was composed by Trevor Rabin and was released on December 11, 2001, but no soundtrack album was released. Noted songs in the film were Drowning Pool's "Bodies" and "Sinner", "Down with the Sickness" by the band Disturbed, "Awake" by Godsmack, "Train of Dreams" by Jesse Dayton and two tracks by Papa Roach, "Blood Brothers" and "Last Resort".

Reception

The One grossed US$19,112,404 in its opening weekend in North America, opening at #2, and eventually grossed US$43,905,746. In other territories, the film grossed US$28,783,380, making for a worldwide total of US$72,689,126.

Critical response

The film received mostly negative reviews. Based on 86 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes as of August 2019, 14% of critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 3.94/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The One plays more like a video game than a movie and borrows freely from other, better sci-fi actioners, burying Jet Li's spectacular talents under heaps of editing and special effects." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 25 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.
Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "brainless high-tech action without interesting dialogue, characters, motivation or texture." Robert Koehler of Variety wrote: "The combo of cheesy effects and martial arts choreographer Cory Yuen's unimaginative staging results in something that's martial artless."
Loren King of the Chicago Tribune gave a favorable review, writing that the movie delivered "the high-octane sequences starring martial-arts expert Jet Li with precision and well-crafted pace." King gave a score of 3 out of 4. Sean Axmaker of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer also gave a favourable review noting that James Wong "manage to create a fun, inventive, mischievously tongue-in-cheek showcase" giving a B- score.

Home media

The home video release of The One took place on August 19, 2002. The DVD release contained audio commentary, interviews with James Wong, Jet Li and some more. Almar Haflidason of the BBC reviewed the DVD release giving a score of 4 out of 5.