here is more than one universe. A multitude of them, in fact—a multiverse. And in each of them, a version of everyone exists. When one person travels from his universe to another—and kills his counterpart—he acquires that person's energy. And one man has set out to do just that—to kill all 125 of his alternate selves—and become The One. He is Yulaw (Li), a ruthless murderer who has killed all but two of his other selves. In an alternate-universe Los Angeles, Yulaw stalks Lawless (also Li), a vicious criminal being transferred from his jail cell by L.A. police.
Yulaw succeeds in killing Lawless with a single shot to the eye. Unaware of Yulaw's matchless strength and speed, the police give chase, only to find themselves overmatched. But Yulaw can't escape multiverse enforcement agents Roedecker (Lindo) and Funsch (Statham), who are wary of Yulaw's increasing power. They can't kill him—that could lead to an unknown catastrophe in the multiverse. But they do apprehend him and bring him back to the central universe, where his punishment awaits.
Having been found guilty of murdering his alternate selves, Yulaw is sentenced by the multiverse authority to be sent to a prison dimension. But Yulaw's red-headed secret confederate, Massie Law (Gugino), sneaks into the sentencing chamber and unleashes an explosion. Yulaw escapes, heading to the place where his last, remaining self dwells—the Los Angeles of our time and space.
In that universe, Yulaw tries to kill L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Gabe (Li), part of a team of law enforcement officers transferring a vicious criminal from his jail cell in L.A. Gabe escapes, but winds up being targeted not only by Yulaw, but also by his own department, which thinks he is the one committing crimes. Gabe tries to explain to his loving wife, T.K. (Gugino), what he has seen, but she thinks he's crazy. With time running out, Gabe has no choice but to trust Funsch, who arrives on the scene with an unbelievable story.
Two Lis are better than The One
The One is an imaginative, high-octane SF action film from genre veterans Morgan and Wong, best known for their hit feature film Final Destination and a slew of television projects, including NBC's The Others and Fox's Space: Above and Beyond. Producer Morgan and director Wong have devised an intriguing premise as a way to pit international martial-arts star Jet Li against himself in the ultimate kung-fu smackdown.
Along the way, The One musters comparisons with The Matrix and The Terminator in style and tone, while coming up with some original eye candy of its own—particularly its "quantum tunneling" sequences and a "Yulaw time" slow-motion fighting effect that suggests the bad Li's blinding speed.
Clocking in at an economical 80 minutes, The One starts fast and gets faster. But the able writers manage to keep the convoluted plot unfolding comprehensibly, while filling in characters, motivations and situations as best they can, though one wishes for a bit more. The film also raises some philosophical issues about the nature of reality, the balance of life and the corruptibility of power, but doesn't do much with them.
A key Morgan and Wong strength is their originality and ability to avoid cliches. As in Final Destination, The One sets up expectations and undercuts them. More than once, the audience is left to wonder which Jet Li it's seeing.
Wong also shows some directorial flair, including mirroring a prisoner-transfer sequence from the beginning of the film virtually shot-for-shot in the movie's midsection, with minor tweaks here and there to let the audience know it is suddenly in a parallel universe.
Li anchors the film well as both the arrogant Yulaw and the overwhelmed Gabe, going so far as to practice distinctly different martial-arts styles reflective of each character. The battles—choreographed by Hong Kong master Cory Yuen—are dynamic, fluid and occasionally very violent.
