''The One'' is a 2001 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

directed by James Wong, written by Wong and

Glen Morgan Glen Morgan (born July 12, 1961) is an American television producer, writer and director. He is best known for co-writing episodes of the Fox science fiction supernatural drama series ''The X-Files'' with his partner, James Wong. He served as ...

, and starring

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years of ...

Delroy Lindo Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Ch ...

, Carla Gugino, and

Jason Statham Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent. Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickbox ...

. The film, which deals with the concept of

multiverse The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The di ...

s and interdimensional travel, follows Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li), a rogue agent who travels to parallel realities in order for him to kill other versions of himself to become a mythical super-being known as "The One". Li plays a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

as Yulaw and Gabe Law, an LASD deputy sheriff who teams up with a multiverse agent to prevent Yulaw from becoming the One. The film was released in the United States by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...

on November 2, 2001, and received negative critical reviews but grossed $78,5 million worldwide.

Plot

Gabriel Yulaw (

), once an agent of the MultiVerse Authority (MVA) which polices interdimensional travel, seeks to hunt down all variations of himself in alternate universes. By killing 124 versions of his other selves and absorbing their life energies, Yulaw believes that he will become a superpowered-godlike being called "The One". After killing Lawless, the 123rd variation in the Anubis Universe, Yulaw is captured by MVA agents Roedecker (

) and Funsch (

) and taken back to the MVA headquarters in the Alpha Universe. After he is sentenced to life in the Stygian penal colony in the Hades Universe, Yulaw manages to escape with the help of his lover and teleports to the Charis Universe where the last variation of himself lives. The last known variation, Gabe Law, is a deputy sheriff working in the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

. For two years, Gabe has been experiencing increases in strength, speed, and mental ability, but neither he nor his wife T.K. ( Carla Gugino) can understand why. While transporting a prisoner, Gabe "feels" Yulaw's presence in time to avoid being shot. Gabe sustains an injury after falling from a wall which Yulaw scales with ease. Roedecker and Funsch arrive in time to stop Yulaw from finishing off Gabe. Although unfamiliar with interdimensional travel, Gabe realizes that Yulaw is identical to him in every way. Rodecker and Funsch track Yulaw to the hospital where Gabe is being examined. Yulaw deters them from shooting him because if he is killed, Gabe would then be left as the One. Dressed alike and identical to each other, Gabe and Yulaw's battle confuses the other police officers. Both Gabe and Yulaw manage to escape the hospital. The MVA agents deviate from their orders and split up. Roedecker pursues and fights Yulaw but is killed when the latter breaks his neck, disabling a bomb Roedecker intended to use to finish both of them off. Funsch catches up with Gabe and explains to him that there are

multiple universes The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. ...

with wormholes briefly connecting them at uncontrollable times. Yulaw sneaks into Gabe's residence where T.K., believing him to be Gabe, agrees to hide him from the police. She realizes that Yulaw is deceiving her but not in time to avoid being captured. Gabe arrives, only to watch helplessly as Yulaw kills T.K. Funsch finds a guilt-ridden Gabe and both team up to find Yulaw at the next wormhole. Gabe and Funsch arrive at an industrial plant, where they encounter and fight Yulaw. Funsch is easily defeated but Gabe and Yulaw are more evenly matched. Gabe manages to gain the upper hand but only seconds before the wormhole arrives. All three of them are sucked into it and collapse on the floor of the MVA headquarters. Yulaw is transported immediately to the Hades Universe after a failed attempt to switch places with Gabe. The MVA then prepares to send Gabe back to his own universe, where he will be arrested and put into prison for the crimes that Yulaw committed. Recalling an earlier conversation with Gabe, Funsch compassionately sends him to a different universe in which Gabe can have a normal life again from when he first met T.K. Meanwhile, Yulaw, now on the penal colony in the Hades Universe, declares that he will still become the One and then proceeds to battle a prison inmate. The camera then pulls back to show an army of other prison inmates taking on Yulaw on top of a

ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has ...

Cast

as: ** Gabriel Yulaw, a former

Multiverse The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The di ...

Authority (M.V.A.) agent from Alpha Universe and the

main antagonist Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries * ...

of the film. ** Officer Gabe Law, an LASD

deputy sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

and

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

from Charis Universe and the

main protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the film. ** Lawless, a notorious and violent criminal from

Anubis Anubis (; grc, Ἄνουβις), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian () is the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depi ...

Universe and one of Yulaw's victims. ** Tsang Law, one of Yulaw's victims from a unknown Universe. ** Yu Fook Law, a

rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

from

Monoceros Monoceros (Greek: Μονόκερως, " unicorn") is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the no ...

Universe and one of Yulaw's victims. ** Swen Law, a surfer from

Tucana Tucana (The Toucan) is a constellation of stars in the southern sky, named after the toucan, a South American bird. It is one of twelve constellations conceived in the late sixteenth century by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter D ...

Universe and one of Yulaw's victims. ** Ni Dilaw, one of Yulaw's victims from

Canopus Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky. It is also designated α Carinae, which is Latinised to Alpha Carinae. With a visual apparent magnitude of ...

Universe. ** Kia Jilaw, one of Yulaw's victims from

Serpens Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...

Universe. ** Seth Law, a long haired man and one of Yulaw's victims from Procyon Universe. ** Frum Law, one of Yulaw's victims from Shaula Universe. *

as Agent Evan Funsch, a Multiverse Authority (M.V.A.) agent from Alpha Universe and Agent Rodecker's current partner. *

as: ** Agent Harry Rodecker, a

Authority (M.V.A.) agent from Alpha Universe who is Yulaw's

archenemy In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero's, most prominent and most-known enemy. Etymology The word ''archenemy'' some ...

and former partner. ** Arri, a gas station attendant from Charis Universe. * Carla Gugino as: ** T.K. Law, a doctor and Gabe Law's wife in Charis Universe. ** Massie Walsh, a sexy red haired criminal and Gabriel Yulaw's girlfriend and lover in Alpha Universe ** an unnamed vet from an unknown Universe. * James Morrison as: ** Officer Bobby Aldrich, Gabe Law's fellow officer in the LASD in the Charis Universe. ** Anubis Universe Inmate #1, an unnamed inmate and Lawless enemy in the Anubis Universe. * Dylan Bruno as Officer Yates, Gabe Law's fellow officer in the LASD. * Richard Steinmetz as Officer D'Antoni, Gabe Law's fellow officer in the LASD. * Steve Rankin as MVA supervisor *

Dean Norris Dean Joseph Norris (born April 8, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for playing DEA agent Hank Schrader on the AMC series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2020). He also portrayed town council ...

as Sergeant Siegel *

Harriet Sansom Harris Harriet Sansom Harris (born January 8, 1955) is an American actress known for her theater performances and for her portrayals of Bebe Glazer on '' Frasier'' and Felicia Tilman on ''Desperate Housewives''. Harris won a Tony Award in 2002 as a F ...

as Nurse Besson * Tucker Smallwood as Prison warden *

Archie Kao Archie David Kao (born December 14, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He is best known to American audiences for series regulars roles on '' Chicago P.D.'', '' Power Rangers Lost Galaxy'' as well as long-running hit '' CSI: Crime Scene I ...

as Woo, Gabe Law's fellow officer in the LASD. * Mark Borchardt as Cesar *

Doug Savant Douglas Peter Savant (born June 21, 1964) is an American actor, known for his roles as Matt Fielding in the Fox prime time soap opera ''Melrose Place'' (1992–97), Tom Scavo in ABC comedy-drama ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–12), and as Sgt. O' ...

as Cop (uncredited)

Production

Originally the film was to have starred

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...

, before Li assumed the lead role. The hospital scenes were filmed at the North Hollywood Medical Center. The documentary ''Jet Li is 'The One'' on the special features section on the DVD explains that both Gabriel Yulaw and "Gabe" Law use martial arts that represent their personalities. Yulaw uses

Xingyiquan Xing Yi Quan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movemen ...

(The Shape-Will Fist), characterized by aggressive linear movements, while Gabe uses

Baguazhang Baguazhang or Pakua chang () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being T'ai chi and Xing Yi Quan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia quan). ''Bāguà zhǎng'' literally ...

(The Eight Trigram Palms) which uses subtle, circular movements. These martial arts are confirmed by their own personalities as Yulaw is very direct, not caring whom he hurts, while Gabe believes life goes in a circle, perfectly balanced.

Soundtrack

The score was composed by

Trevor Rabin Trevor Charles Rabin (; born ) is a South African rock musician and composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and producing with a va ...

and was released on December 11, 2001, but no soundtrack album was released. Noted songs in the film were

Drowning Pool Drowning Pool is an American rock band formed in Dallas, Texas, in 1996. The band was named after the 1975 film '' The Drowning Pool''. Since its formation, the band has consisted of guitarist C.J. Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton, and drummer Mi ...

's "

Bodies Bodies may refer to: * The plural of body * ''Bodies'' (2004 TV series), BBC television programme * Bodies (upcoming TV series), an upcoming British crime thriller limited series * "Bodies" (''Law & Order''), 2003 episode of ''Law & Order'' * ...

" and " Sinner", "

Down with the Sickness "Down with the Sickness" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was recorded in 1999 and released as the second single from the band's debut studio album, ''The Sickness''. "Down with the Sickness" is one of Disturbed's best-know ...

" by the band Disturbed, " Awake" by

Godsmack Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna, bassist Robbie Merrill, lead guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its fo ...

, "Train of Dreams" by

Jesse Dayton Jesse Dayton is an American musician, actor and record producer from Austin, Texas best known for his guitar contributions to albums by country musicians including Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. He is also notable for his co ...

and two tracks by

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther. Aft ...

, "Blood Brothers" and "

Last Resort A last resort is something that is used when all other options have been exhausted. Last Resort or The Last Resort may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Last Resort'' (1986 film), starring Charles Grodin—a comedy set on a trop ...

Reception

For its initial theatrical release, the film grossed $43.9 million in the United States and Canada and $28.7 million internationally, grossing $72.7 million worldwide. The film was released in the United Kingdom on April 12, 2004 and grossed $1.3 million, boosting the film's worldwide cume to $74 million.

Critical response

The film received mostly negative reviews. Based on reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, of critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads, "''The One'' plays more like a video game than a movie and borrows freely from other, better sci-fi actioners, burying Jet Li's spectacular talents under heaps of editing and special effects." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 25 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "brainless high-tech action without interesting dialogue, characters, motivation or texture." Robert Koehler of '' Variety'' wrote: "The combo of cheesy effects and martial arts choreographer Cory Yuen's unimaginative staging results in something that's martial artless." Loren King of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' gave a favorable review, writing that the movie delivered "the high-octane sequences starring martial-arts expert Jet Li with precision and well-crafted pace." King gave a score of 3 out of 4. Sean Axmaker of the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' also gave a favourable review noting that James Wong "manage to create a fun, inventive, mischievously tongue-in-cheek showcase" giving a B− score.

Home media

The home video release of ''The One'' took place on August 19, 2002. The DVD release contained audio commentary, interviews with James Wong, Jet Li and some more. Almar Haflidason of the BBC reviewed the DVD release giving a score of 4 out of 5.

References

External links

*
One, The (Special Edition) - DVD
on

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...

The One on Jet Li's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:One, The 2001 films 2001 martial arts films 2000s science fiction action films 2000s superhero films American martial arts films American science fiction action films American superhero films Columbia Pictures films 2000s English-language films Films scored by Trevor Rabin Films directed by James Wong (filmmaker) Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Kung fu films Wushu films Martial arts science fiction films Films about parallel universes Revolution Studios films 2000s American films