THE ONE
Directed by James Wong
Starring Jet Li
Playing at Cinemark 12 in Hadley
If Jet Li isn’t careful, he’ll wind up the next Jean-Claude Van Damme. Li was the best thing about the otherwise mediocre “Lethal Weapon 4” and his breakthrough hit “Romeo Must Die” was a solid, if conventional, action film.
However, his most recent projects leave us wondering if Li really could be an American action star. “Kiss of the Dragon” was a dull bore, and now there’s “The One”, a sci-fi action flick that adopts the trite premise of having the hero fight himself. This is the same unsuccessful premise that has stymied other genre stars — including Van Damme (“Double Impact” and “Maximum Risk”), Jackie Chan (“Twin Dragons”), and, most recently Arnold Schwarzennegger (“The 6th Day”).
“The One” cribs shamelessly from “The Matrix” for it’s special effects and plot centered around parallel universes. But what was innovative then, is, after countless parodies and rip-offs, rote now. The spiritual depth inherent in “The Matrix” is lacking in the standard-issue screenplay.
The dazzling aura of you-gotta-see-this awe has been replaced by a repetitive series of chases, crashes and fistfights. At the outset, a narrator (sounding suspiciously like William Shatner) solemnly reveals that are not one, but 125 universes making up a network called the Multiverse. In each one there is a different version of yourself. Unauthorized travel between universes is illegal and patrolled by the Multiverse Police Agency.
Li takes on three roles, though one is killed in the beginning. Yulaw (bad Li) has traversed the universes killing off his other “selves.” Each time one dies, their power is divided evenly amongst the others. Yulaw has killed 123 duplicates – increasing his strength to superhuman levels – and is looking for his last target, a sheriff’s deputy named Gabe (good Li) in our universe. If Gabe is killed, then Yulaw will become an omnipotent, God-like “one”.
“The One” is from the team of Glen Morgan and James Wong (Morgan produces, Wong directs; both write), best known for some of the most critically acclaimed episodes of “The X-Files”. They’re also the creators of last year’s creepy horror hit “Final Destination”. This stands as their weakest project to date.
Delroy Lindo and Carla Gugino are given nothing to do in shallow supporting roles (Lindo brought dramatic heft to “Romeo”, but he fails to do so here.) Li, as an actor, is rather blank here. The dialogue is dead on arrival. The script is full of yawning plot holes. The special effects are merely adequate. But hey, at least the movie runs only a little more than 80 minutes.
The big selling point for “The One” is the climactic battle between the two Lis. Many of the fights are seen-it-before duels backed by a heard-it-before techno-metal soundtrack. The “Li vs. himself” is no exception. The filmmakers even cheat by not even giving us the semblance of Li fighting himself, always shooting one or the other from the back.
By the way, isn’t tricking up a talented martial artist with computer effects kind of like giving basketball pointers to Michael Jordan? This “One” sadly comes up zero.
