Jet Li kicking a SWAT team into the air in slow motion as Drowning Pool’s ‘Bodies’ thunders on the soundtrack is an iconic high point of The One (2001). While working as bullet-timecore (the special effect enhanced martial arts a clear indication of The Matrix’s impact), it also introduces audiences to what will be a very heavy nu-metal soundtrack. It’s hard to know if director and writer Glen Morgan (writers on The X Files whose previous film was Final Destination) were nu-metal heads or this was a corporate decision by Sony Pictures/Revolution Studios, but the result is that this should be an iconic soundtrack, the way that The Crow is an emblem for Goth music; maybe it’s missing something from Limp Bizkit for complete genre representation? A sci-fi re-run of Highlander with shades of T2 and Demolition Man, Jet Li gets to play both hero and villain here. The multiverse exists here but it’s policed like Timecop, and a rogue agent is gaining ultimate power by killing all his doppelgängers throughout the 234 dimensions (such a specific number), “there can be only ‘the’ one”. When you see the slideshow of all the other Jet Lis, it must have been a fun day at the wig factory (okay, we’ve got dreadlocks here, there’s gotta be a dreadlocked Jet Li). Multiverse cops Delroy Lindo (basically redoing his Gone In 60 Seconds cop thing) and Jason Statham (back in the post-Snatch era when he attempted American accents) are on the hunt. But it’s up to the one remaining good guy Jet Li to feel the ultimate multiverse power and fight back through the magic of stunt doubles and CGI. Carla Gugino also uses all of her acting prowess to manufacture chemistry out of the ether as Jet Li’s wife. This is silly and over the top 2000s dvd era action movie antics, which was pretty entertaining and fun, particularly the very memorable final scene that brings to life some teenage future prison martial arts fantasy, comparable to something scribbled on a high school notebook and transformed into an album cover worthy mise en scene. Available to stream on Stan. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 