The One (2001) ½ of a
cast: Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Delroy Lindo, and Jason Statham
director: James Wong

American audiences still really haven't quite warmed up to Jet Li. Yes, "Lethal Weapon 4" was successful, but this really had little to do with its wu shu co-star making his first appearance in Hollywood.

Two years later "Romeo Must Die" (Li's first starring turn in a Hollywood vehicle) was a modest hit taking in around $55 million domestically in the States alone, though most of Li's fans openly voiced dismay for the film's lackluster action sequences, and critics literally ate the film alive (and rightfully so).

Then came the grotesque "Kiss of the Dragon," an unusual brainchild of Li's aided by French director/screenwriter Luc Besson, who together failed to turn over much box office appeal let alone critical acceptance.

Now we have "The One" which looks, feels, and is that straight-to-video Sci-Fi film that most actors do when they are in a serious rut and on their way to the point of no return. How "The One" got to the big screen is beyond me with its corny late show plot and non-existent characters that are thinner than paper and as one-dimensional as they come. This is supposed to be a film about one man's fractured self-spread across hundreds of different parallel dimensions in alternate realities and yet there isn't one shred of good character growth or development to be found.

Again, the American public really hasn't even warmed up to the one, so why splinter Jet Li into a hundred possible personas in hopes of big bucks?

As "The One" begins in the not-so-distant-future we learn that the world has discovered other dimensions that are created by black holes. In these universes our daily existence plays out differently as these universes are alternate realities. Traveling to these universes is possible, however, it is deemed unlawful, because if you travel from universe to universe killing each of your alter egos you inherit that ego's abilities, thus making you all that much stronger.

Let's cut to the chase: good Jet Li vs. bad Jet Li (who only needs the good Jet Li to die at his hands to have killed all of his personas, thus becoming an unstoppable force).

There are plenty of things to hate about both "Romeo Must Die" and "Kiss of the Dragon," but "The One" somehow; someway has made their flaws look minor in comparison if not slight. One of my main reasons for disliking "Romeo Must Die" so much was that once again Hollywood didn't know what they were doing. Granted Jet Li was able to be choreographed by fellow martial artist Corey Yuen Kwai (who directed Li in one way or another in several of his Hong Kong films), but gave the two very little creative control and opted to add bad CGI to everything the talented wu shu star did.

Why would you want to add CGI to a human being that is amazing with his own bare hands and feet alone? "The One" is no different--adding "Matrix"-style special effects to the evil Jet Li to show how powerful he is. Why couldn't we have had a script where the evil Jet Li has all of his real-life skill and the good Jet Li not know a single lick of martial arts? Certainly this would have been more entertaining, but in Hollywood the thought of having an Asian protagonist who doesn't know martial arts would be unacceptable.

I kept my promise on "The One"--I refused to pay $7.50 to see it in the theater and waited a short while (the film grossed an unimpressive box office total) for it to show up on tape. The trailer looked pitiful and my assumptions were right. The most optimistic thing I can say about Jet Li's career at this point is that I am delighted to here that he is returning to Chinese filmmaking a la Chow Yun-fat. Li will appear opposite Maggie Cheung, Leung Chiu-wai, Donnie Yen, and Zhang Ziyi in the Zhang Yimou directed "Hero" due out later this year in Asia.

The only thing this "One" is definitely going to do is appear in the near future on my list as one of the worst films of 2001 next to "Freddy Got Fingered," "3000 Miles to Graceland," "Jeepers Creepers," and other really bad ones.