THE ONE: Actually Decent Science Fiction Actioner

Jet Li is an inconsistent actor. His filmography includes gems like Hero by Zhang Yimou, as well as duds such as Kiss of the Dragon by Chris Nahon. Today, after his career has slowed down considerably, one might wonder if he ever truly had a chance to become as famous as Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. He was always behind them – somewhat known, but not legendary. The One is unfortunately neither a masterpiece nor even a cult flop. If, compared to other action movie misfires from the turn of the 21st century, calling the production a solid mid-tier B-movie is a compliment to the director, then he can truly be proud of himself. Especially considering James Wong’s other directorial efforts.

On the other hand, watching such a mid-tier film doesn’t hurt, as long as you turn a blind eye to some production missteps. Jet Li plays his double role as cop Gabe Law and his antagonist, Lawless, in his usual style (not groundbreaking but decent). He’s partnered by the somewhat wooden Jason Statham (Agent Evan Funsch), still with hair. In the background, we have Carla Gugino (T.K. Law) and Delroy Lindo (Agent Harry Roedecker), known from Clockers by Spike Lee. The cast is decent, though nothing extraordinary. The world they’ve been placed in by the director also seems interesting. However, what looms over everything is the film’s specific stylistic choices, still deeply rooted in the ’90s, certainly not in any exemplary models to follow.

Unfortunately, in action cinema, actors often can’t afford to be picky, or they’ll quickly disappear from screens. Jet Li didn’t pick and perhaps that’s why he survived in the genre’s influx of martial arts films from the Far East that flooded the world after 1980. Maybe that’s also why he remained in the background for the “true” action movie stars of karate and kung fu. In The One, he was given the lead role, although, for instance, Jason Statham speaks and uses his facial expressions much more effectively. Jet Li mostly fights, runs, and jumps. In dramatic terms, it’s quite weak.

I always wonder who designs things like labels, patches, advertisements, etc., in lower-class films. These are the things that most easily reveal the budget. In one of the first scenes, there’s a close-up of a police patch, and pretty much everything is already clear. The tasteless color combination, poor embroidery, lack of contrast – the graphic designer must have cried while creating it. However, this doesn’t disqualify the film in terms of entertainment. The One is still an engaging action movie with elements of martial arts. It’s just a shame it was so underfunded. It will soon be twenty years since its premiere. Maybe it’s worth considering a remake?

The story told by Glen Morgan and James Wong hasn’t aged a bit. Moreover, contemporary relativistic physics has more and more to say about parallel worlds. In fact, in the film, Jason Statham somewhat clumsily explains the basics of moving between dimensions and times (the so-called shortcut through curved space). The theme of multiverse travel is still fresh in cinema. What’s so captivating about it? The idea of a former interdimensional police officer who suddenly develops a taste for killing other versions of himself inhabiting parallel dimensions in order to gain more and more strength. Then, unexpectedly, one of them, the last one, Gabe Law, resists him. This multidimensional vampirism may sound too fantastic in the description, but it contains an interesting mix of Highlander and Total Recall. Killing each copy of a person in each dimension, and importantly, by the same person from another dimension, evenly distributes the life energy of the killed between all the remaining representatives of the person still alive. The multiverse strives for homeostasis and wants to maintain it at all costs. And when only one is left? Will the entire universe implode, explode, or perhaps will it generate someone like a hero, a deity, or a God?

Nowadays, such movies are hardly made anymore, and if science fiction cinema is mixed with action cinema, the result is often a flop, like the remake of Total Recall. The recipe for saving this kind of story is to introduce elements from the karate genre (or any other martial art) or from exploitation cinema, but it has to be done with an incredible attention to style. In The One, it only worked partially. The interesting story was supported by a mix of genres, not style (set design, CGI) – well, maybe with some exploitation. However, the execution failed – clearly, there was a lack of funds for special effects, proper development of the script, and music. If the film had been about half an hour longer, the audience might have better understood the context of the events, which, although it’s action cinema, is necessary. As it stands, there are many unanswered questions and strange situations. From which dimension do the agents come? Why is there a specific (and finite) number of supernova explosions that create dimensions? What happens when only one Gabe remains? Why was there that cut at the end with cheap blue boxes pretending to be a large penal colony of Styx in the Hades dimension? And the visually striking Bollywood-like scene of crushing a cop with two motorcycles held in his hands?

Still, The One is an entertaining movie with a moral. The relationships between twins can be difficult, especially when one wants to dominate, so much so that they want to conquer the entire world. On the other hand, James Wong made a film with a much more universal message – any crime committed in the world, even if it disrupts millions of lives, will eventually result in reality coming back to balance. The saying “from dust you were created, and to dust you shall return” thus takes on a much more universal, multidimensional meaning.