Jet Li stars as both the good Gabe and the evil Gabriel Yulaw in the sci-fi action picture The One.

Yulaw has been killing his alternate selves from parallel universes and absorbing ever more strength from each slaying until there is only Gabe left to destroy in order for him to be the only one left. Every time Yulaw kills the energy and power of the killed is absorbed by the remaining alternate life forces.

His goal is to kill all his parallel lives so he will be the only one left and have the ultimate power that nobody can match. There is one hitch. This has never been done before and nobody knows what will happen if Yulaw succeeds.

Multiverse Agents Roedecker and Funsch are sent to stop Yulaw before it’s too late. The more they try to apprehend Yulaw the less successful they become.
Now it’s up to Gabe to save the world and defeat Yulaw who by now has become superhuman in strength and very destructive.

Doesn’t sound too bad for a martial arts action picture until you see how horribly this story has been translated into film. The One suffers greatly from a bad script, trivial acting and lackluster directing.

It looks and feels like a bad cable movie filled with crappy effects and over acting. James Wong directs this film like it’s a cheap video game with very
little thrills and lots of unnoticing action.

Jet Li has a strong persona and exceptional martial arts showmanship but it’s not enough to make up for this lousy uninteresting film.

It’s one of those movies that begs the question - what where they thinking? The One is in dire need of a major tune up that includes a complete overhaul.

The One is certainly “not the one” to make Jet Li the big U.S. action superstar he has the potential to become.

Even as a video title The One will be hard to watch all the way through. What started out as a good idea turned into a fiasco in the form of The One.

2.5 Stars

Gil Benzeevi