Critic Reviews
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Ed Park, Village Voice
Wong's efficiently creepy Final Destination was as much memento mori as teen disposal unit, but in The One the maze of death leads only to exhaustion.
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Jonathan Foreman, New York Post
This sci-fi/martial arts hybrid has the stale aura of a product assembled out of bits of other action movies.
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John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Bullets fly, lights flash, action occurs, time goes by, but nothing actually happens.
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Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
Hasn't enough good dialogue here for one Yulaw, never mind two.
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Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
A sci-fi kung-fu mish-mash of dreck . . . The use of stand-ins is obvious and the resolution is ludicrous.
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John R. McEwen, Film Quips Online
All I know is, if there are really multiple parallel universes, I pity all the versions of me that have to watch all the versions of this movie.
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Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
You should know you're in trouble when you steal ideas from Highlander.
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Luis Martinez, Cinenganos
una colección de huecos inexplicables en su guión.
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Ian Waldron-Mantgani, UK Critic
Replicates the experience of viewing an arcade demo for the same length of time.
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Morgan and Wong lose sight of what makes Li such an appealing star in the first place: his natural athletic ability.
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Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
The confused step-child of "Sliders" and Highlander.
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Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
Li kicks a good amount of ass in the film, but he's certainly no Oscar contender.
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Ted Murphy, Baseline.Hollywood.com
Instead of thrilling audiences, The One disappoints.
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Ethan Alter, Film Journal International
It's as if Wong and Morgan didn't think beyond the pitch session. It becomes painful to watch how quickly the duo squanders the story's potential.
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Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
Too serious about itself and its silly concept, and it offers nothing beyond the fight sequences we've seen before.
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Ross Anthony, Hollywood Report Card
I like Jet, but...this particular "Version" of the idea deletes nearly all ripe tangents.
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Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine
The cheapest and most nonsensical slice of quasi-Science Fiction silliness since Freejack.
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Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
"The One" is an expensive-looking martial arts-science fiction movie that delivers a lot less than you would expect from it.
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Karina Montgomery, Cinerina
What little good that can be said about The One is easily summed up in this sentence: Jet Li fights himself.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
I'm happy to report that Jet Li's fourth American film crosses the finish line as far and away the best of them.
Read all 21 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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Wow... absolutely horrible. Can't even describe how horrible it was. Do not watch this crapfest.
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As good as this looks, this movie is an awful, awful, AWFUL film. And I am NOT exaggerating. Very little action is good, and the dialogue actually SOUNDS like people reading off of a piece of paper.
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Stealing the power of the universes one by one.
An OK movie. More Jet Li action, not much different from his other roles. The movie was a little confusing to me but nevertheless nothing really appealed too much to me. The special effects didn't look so special and the acting… More
Stealing the power of the universes one by one.
An OK movie. More Jet Li action, not much different from his other roles. The movie was a little confusing to me but nevertheless nothing really appealed too much to me. The special effects didn't look so special and the acting wasn't there either. This movie is for Jet Li fans. The last fight between the 2 Jet Li's was pretty good I gotta admit but that was it. Nice cast but not used to there full extent.
There is not one universe, but there are many, which is a multiverse. Supposing you are just one person, there are many other versions of you in the other universes, there are ways to travel, but only a police agency,MVA, can travel only for police procedures. Gabriel Yulaw is a former MVA agent, who killed another version of himself in self-defense. It made the other versions of him stronger. When Yulaw found out about this, he became power-hungry killing the 122 other versions for two years. After killing Lawless and getting captured by his former partner Roedecker and a new MVA agent Funsch, Yulaw managed to escape the prison and is trying to kill his last target, Gabe Law who is a police officer. He is also at Yulaw's strength. Roedecker and Funsch now have to arrest Yulaw before he can kill Gabe. There is a possibility that the universe could die or make Yulaw invincible. After encountering Yulaw for the first time, Gabe thought that it was his split personality, but it wasn't. Will Gabe be able to confront Yulaw before or after Yulaw ruins his life?
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A former agent who policed the various different universes finds that killing the other versions of himself increases his own abilities and so sets out to murder them all and become a super being. On paper, this interesting alternate reality premise and the idea of two Jet Lis… More
A former agent who policed the various different universes finds that killing the other versions of himself increases his own abilities and so sets out to murder them all and become a super being. On paper, this interesting alternate reality premise and the idea of two Jet Lis battling each other sounds great, but the workmanlike direction and unimaginative plot turns it into an unrelenting exercise in mediocrity. Essentially a shoddy Matrix clone, the action sequences are clumsy and unexciting and the cast struggle with their cardboard cut out characters, especially Jason Statham who is saddled with a wholly unconvincing American accent. This kind of meat and potatoes generic sci fi flick should be left to keeping the likes of Mark Dacascos in leather trousers; like all of the other Asian stars who get lumbered with similar second rate projects in their attempt to break the US, Jet Li is above this.
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Interesting idea. Sa it so long ago I can't rememeber how good it was though.
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my love for jet li and kung fu movies may taint my perspective a bit in even calling this film average, but the plot was incredibly inventive, action sequences were decent and the film was very entertaining. having said that there was a lot about this film not to like. the execution… More
my love for jet li and kung fu movies may taint my perspective a bit in even calling this film average, but the plot was incredibly inventive, action sequences were decent and the film was very entertaining. having said that there was a lot about this film not to like. the execution of the plot and the details of the storyline defied even the simplest of logic as the script was full of obvious holes. the payoff at the end also provided a false hope.re-watchable on a rainy day, but unless youre really into jet li flicks this is a waste of your time.
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Jet Li fighting Jet Li -- what could be better? Well, it could have been better. Like with a better story. But I'm glad I saw this. I gotta definitely get me one of them hand-held worm hole detectors. I've always thought that if there really were parallel universes that… More
Jet Li fighting Jet Li -- what could be better? Well, it could have been better. Like with a better story. But I'm glad I saw this. I gotta definitely get me one of them hand-held worm hole detectors. I've always thought that if there really were parallel universes that I'd like to get into one where I might actually be doing good. Whatevahs. <p>Jet Li fans, no matter what they hear or read, <p>A. Should<p>or <p>B. Should not <p> see this one. I guess it really depends on what universe you're in. Pick one accordingly, and then pray <p> and knock on wood.
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The One is pretty poor, considering the talent that Jet Li has brought to the table over time. This film has nothing going for it, and should be forgotten about, because it's just not a good film at all!
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It feels like an early nineties action movie, but I love early nineties action movies. Seeing Jet Li fight himself is just weird and cool at the same time, it's truly an outrageous plot in the same vein as Highlander and Timecop. I love the atmosphere, the Jet Li one-liners.… More
It feels like an early nineties action movie, but I love early nineties action movies. Seeing Jet Li fight himself is just weird and cool at the same time, it's truly an outrageous plot in the same vein as Highlander and Timecop. I love the atmosphere, the Jet Li one-liners. Jason Statham is just a bonus to the already rewarding movie. It's not exactly an academy award winner, but it gets points for being original and unique. You don't see many movies like this anymore, which is a shame.
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an interesting story with dissappointing execution
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Its as if someone made a Van Damme movie entertaining.
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When I saw this in the theater I thought it was amazing, in retrospect its a little wanker of a film.
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A cool concept dealing with parallel universe versions of Jet Li. The concept is very interesting. There's plenty of action to carry the movie.
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Quite a good early Jet Li movie as he has to take on himself to become The One!
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Interesting and a good action flick.
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Yulaw: I am Yulaw! I am nobody's bitch! You are mine.
Maybe if the movie had a better sense of humor it would be a better movie. Nifty special effects and a hardcore soundtrack don't help this movie. There are so many holes in this plot that I just feel bad for the cast.… More
Yulaw: I am Yulaw! I am nobody's bitch! You are mine.
Maybe if the movie had a better sense of humor it would be a better movie. Nifty special effects and a hardcore soundtrack don't help this movie. There are so many holes in this plot that I just feel bad for the cast. Jet Li does a decent enough job, and of course his fighting stuff looks cool, but it's not as much fun if I know that he is having CG help when he is a first class martial artist. A neat concept, but mainly just falls flat.
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Jet Li vs Jet Li!! This is quite great action-sci fi.
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It's Jet Li vs. Jet Li in The One. When an outlaw attempts to gain godlike powers by killing off other versions of himself throughout different universes to absorb their energy, two agents are sent to capture him before he can become the One. Co-starring Jason Statham, Carla… More
It's Jet Li vs. Jet Li in The One. When an outlaw attempts to gain godlike powers by killing off other versions of himself throughout different universes to absorb their energy, two agents are sent to capture him before he can become the One. Co-starring Jason Statham, Carla Gugino, and Delroy Lindo, the cast is pretty good. However, there are some issues with the special effects; which have trouble visualizing the powers of the characters. And while the science fiction elements are quite interesting, the film doesn't really explore them in any depth. Still, the fight choreography is impressive and exciting. Light on story but heavy on special effects, The One is a solidly entertaining action film.
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Terrible. The action was alright, but the extremely cheesy story, dialogue and music overpowers any hope that this movie ever had.
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An incredibly weak attempt to cash-in on The Matrix style and effects The One doesn't have the talent nor the budget to justify its ambitious and preposterous story. I've always been critical of Jet Li's acting ability and the scene where he tries to convey pain and… More
An incredibly weak attempt to cash-in on The Matrix style and effects The One doesn't have the talent nor the budget to justify its ambitious and preposterous story. I've always been critical of Jet Li's acting ability and the scene where he tries to convey pain and sorrow after his wife's violent death should pretty much sum-up why I'm usually critical of him. Though Li is typically weak in English language films he certainly cannot take all the blame for this disaster as the writing, directing and supporting cast are so below par a great actor would struggle to make anything work here.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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