From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sat Nov 3 14:11:39 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Annette Cardwell Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: One, The (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Sat, 03 Nov 2001 04:18:47 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30086 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 262815 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-SourceID: 178 X-RT-AuthorID: 3595 X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/5 Summary: r.a.m.r. #30086 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 92 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2080 rec.arts.sf.reviews:136 THE ONE A film review by Annette Cardwell Copyright 2001 filmcritic.com Jet Li has joined the dubious ranks of those martial arts stars playing opposite themselves in a film -- including Jackie Chan and Jean Claude Van Damme. But instead of playing a long-lost twin brother to himself as in the other films, Li's actually himself squared -- another version of Jet from a different parallel "universe." That's right: Only Jet Li can kick Jet Li's ass. James Wong and Glen Morgan, the guys who brought us the cheesy but mildly entertaining Final Destination (as well as the wonderfully gruesome X-Files episode "Home"), flex their sci-fi/kung fu action muscles with The One. With Jet Li on board, the action side is in great shape. Unfortunately, they come up pretty emaciated on the sci-fi front. The biggest problem is that The One's script is just awful -- from premise to storyline to dialogue. The premise -- which is spoon-fed to the audience via narration before the opening credits -- explains that many versions of us live in alternate universes that make up the "multiverse." When one of our versions dies, the energy between all our selves is divvied up. To take advantage of this, Yulaw (Jet Li) has come up with the evil plot to travel through dimensional wormholes to other universes to kill off all his other selves. As each one dies -- as he puts it in the most broken of English -- he can "feel myself growing faster, stronger, smarter." Hot on his trail are two literal time cops (Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham of Snatch). T hey must stop him from killing the last version of himself (an L.A. cop named Gabe) which would make Yulaw "the one." Believe it or not, the story plays out even worse than it sounds -- full of holes and questionable logic. Never mind the fact that the ridiculous number of movie clichés included here -- even the suspenseful searching of a garage where a teetering lamp turns out to only be a cat. But if you really want clichés, look to the dialogue where you'll see every line coming a mile away. In the final fight scene between the two Jets, the bad Jet delivers quite an old groaner: "There can only be one." The acting is also pretty dismal, especially poor Statham, who was so much fun as the hapless boxing promoter Turkish in Snatch, mired here in a laughable role and an absurd New York accent. Jet Li's career may be the only one to get a boost, mainly since most of his role revolves around a handful of awesome fight sequences. Nearly as impressive as Li's moves are the special effects that give already incredible fights extra voltage. The filmmakers take the Matrix slow-mo bullet thing a few steps further, almost to the point of abuse. But, man, is it cool to watch. And, scenes exhibiting Li's superhuman strength -- especially one where he picks up a police motorcycle with one hand and slams it down on a cop like a trash can lid -- are equally visually fun. However, much beyond that FX eye candy and an occasional clever joke related to inter-dimensional travel (like a jab at one universe which has a President Gore), there's not much substance to The One. But I've got to give the filmmakers props as well as an extra half star just on the basis that they cast American Movie's Mark Borchardt in a minor role. Glad to see that guy's getting some work. RATING: **1/2 |------------------------------| \ ***** Perfection \ \ **** Good, memorable film \ \ *** Average, hits and misses \ \ ** Sub-par on many levels \ \ * Unquestionably awful \ |------------------------------| MPAA Rating: PG-13 Director: James Wong Producer: Glen Morgan, James Wong, Steve Chasman Writer: Glen Morgan, James Wong Starring: Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Jason Statham, Delroy Lindo. http://www.sony.com/theone ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30086 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 262815 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-SourceID: 178 X-RT-AuthorID: 3595 X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/5 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Nov 16 16:37:56 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!washdc3-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!feeder.qis.net!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Karina Montgomery Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: One, The (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 19:23:05 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30152 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 264465 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-SourceID: 755 X-RT-AuthorID: 3661 Summary: r.a.m.r. #30152 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 66 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2142 rec.arts.sf.reviews:139 The One Catch the Network Premiere What little good that can be said about The One is easily summed up in this sentence: Jet Li fights himself. Imagine a kind of WB sci-fi goof-off on Highlander, with a screamy metal soundtrack and throw in the deep dramatic quandaries of the Patty Duke show. Jet Li is cool, handsome, and fast, but the multiverse is not enough. It's a movie based on adrenaline over answers, tenuous plot over tenterhooked audience. If Highlander 2 taught us nothing else about murderous campaigns to obtain ultimate power, it taught us this: It is better to burn out (1 Highlander Film) than fade away (The One). There are some specklings of amusing moments or ideas, such as the multiverses, alternate universes essentially just like ours, but with slight changes in cast. I particularly enjoyed the death-flavored names of the various universes (Stygian, Anubis, Hades, to name the ones I recall). The idea of inter-dimensional hijinks and the consequent police force is an interesting notion, but it has been carried out far better on any network TV show currently running. And those are free. The One is worth a rating of Network Premiere because the good part (where Jet Li fights himself for a perceived 20 minutes) is basically blood and profanity free, and it's cool to look at. Conceivably you could see it for free on TV one day and not worry about the soullessness of paying for this drivel. Unlike the one decent scene in the Musketeer, we want this moment to happen, and the plot (such as it is) builds toward this moment in a fairly natural way. The designers got in a couple of amusing jabs through the magic of alternate, contemporary realities. In one realtity, Gore is president, and in another, Bush cares about universal health care. So now I have ruined two of the three jokes in the film, specifically so you won't be tempted to see it out of curiosity. Let this be a warning to you. Definitely, if you need an insultingly written kung fu fix, get the always satisfying Jackie Chan movie. If you're forced in the video store to choose between this and The Musketeer, by all means choose this one. But really, don't ever let yourself be that desperate for entertainment. Vacuum instead. This movie is not completely incredibly insulting and it does have a lot more fighting than the Crapketeer. Do not, by any means, go see The One hoping to be fulfilled in anyway (Li fans, I'm sorry to say that he does not remove his shirt). The One ain't Neo, much as he tries to be. Good luck keeping up with the accidental misleading of the audience by alternate Li's dressing identically. It's got Van Damme spirit, yes it do, it's Van Damme's spirit, not Matrix 2. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These reviews (c) 2001 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks. cinerina@flash.net Check out previous reviews at: http://www.cinerina.com http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/ - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource http://www.mediamotions.com http://www.capitol-city.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30152 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 264465 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-SourceID: 755 X-RT-AuthorID: 3661 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Nov 16 16:38:00 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!skynet.be!skynet.be!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!hub1.nntpserver.com!telocity-west!TELOCITY!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Homer Yen Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: One, The (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 19:31:19 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30156 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 264885 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: C- Summary: r.a.m.r. #30156 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 92 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2147 rec.arts.sf.reviews:141 “One” to Forget by Homer Yen (c) 2001 When Jet Li stops taking himself so seriously, maybe audiences will begin to warm up to him. When he learns how to crack a smile, maybe audiences will better relate to him. When he finds matieral that elevates him above one-dimensional projects, maybe audiences will venture out to see this Asian action sensation. But until that happens, Jet Li is starting to look more and more like the Asian Jean Claude Van-Damme. And not all the roundhouse kicks, rock and roll music, and computer wizardry can ever save him. “The One” is his latest botched release, a completely unremarkable and implausible sci-fi story. In this film, there are as many parallel universes as there are complaints with the film. The premise is that there are 124 of ourselves spread across 124 parallel universes. Now, further imagine that one of you is so evil that he has embarked on a quest to jump from universe to universe with the goal of killing his 123 other ‘selves’ until he is the only one left. Why would he do this? The film suggests that the last one remaining could become a God. Hmm… And, no one would want to harm him because if you destroy God, you destroy the universe. Double-Hmm… Naturally, this would enable him to rule everything. Triple-Hmm… Perhaps Li’s fame has finally gone to his head. The deluded, evil one is YuLaw (played by Li) who eventually makes his way to Gabe’s (also Li) universe. YuLaw, by this point, has acquired amazing strength and agility. When he runs, his form is blurred. He dodges bullets using "Matrix"-like abilities. And when he fights, he has gravity-defying combination moves that make him look like a video game character out of Mortal Kombat or Tekken. For most of the movie, YuLaw seeks out Gabe and causes lots of havoc along the way. This includes attacking many overmatched police officers, threatening Gabe’s love interest (Carla Gugino) and battling dimension-traveling officers (Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham) that have been in pursuit. Sadly, YuLaw is just so dominating that watching him fight is about as fun as watching a bowling ball strike bowling pins. “The One” looks to have a lot of potential, but the film needed a more creative person to helm the project. For example, given the fact that there are 124 parallel universes, couldn’t the film be set in a more creative place than Los Angeles? And why is it that we visit only three (or four) universes? But the biggest question is what genius thought that the audience would want to see Jet Li fight himself in the finale? That’s like Superman fighting Superman. Who do you think would win? Who really cares? We become so disenchanted with the direction of the film that we’ll likely overlook the technically brilliant computer effects that create the Li v. Li final showdown. The scene is incredibly fluid. If there was an achievement award for “Most Excruciatingly, Technically Difficult Effect to Create,” this sequence certainly deserves to be nominated. However, you’ll demand much more from this measly film. If you like Jet Li, you’re better off renting out something at the local Chinese video store. If you need instant martial arts gratification, go seek out “Iron Monkey”. In any universe, this film should be exiled. Grade: C- S: 1 out of 3 L: 1 out of 3 V: 2 out of 3 ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30156 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 264885 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: C- From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Nov 21 13:13:04 2001 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.net.uni-c.dk!howland.erols.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Ram Samudrala Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: One, The (2001) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 20:12:51 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 30255 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 267007 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-SourceID: 302 X-RT-AuthorID: 29 Summary: r.a.m.r. #30255 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 69 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2242 rec.arts.sf.reviews:155 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The One http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/the_one.html Borrowing from the Many Worlds interpretation of Everett's Relative-State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics, /The One/ showcases a scenario of what happens when events in these different universes become intertwined. The setting for this plot is a "multiverse" consisting of many parallel universes (using the Everett interpretation, there are an infinite number). The first Universes that discovered this "fact" went about creating a police force to ensure no abuse occurs by travelling from Universe to another through "Quantum wormholes". Yulaw (Jet Li) is a former officer in this force who discovers that his strength increases when he kills a version of himself from another Universe. He then goes about killing the 123 copies of himself that are known to exist and their strengths flow to him and his one remaining counterpart, Gabe (Li again), in the 124th Universe (arguably there are more than 125 Universes, but a Yulaw-like personality does not exist in them). Gabe, a regular cop in a Universe similar to ours, is unable to explain his sudden increase in strength. That is until Yulaw comes after him. Aided by two of the Multiverse police, Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Statham), Gabe must stop Yulaw before Yulaw becomes "the one" standing, which would allow him to gain an enormous amount of power and rule the Multiverse as a despotic god. The idea that as one person is killed in a given Universe, his strength flows to all his other counterparts in different Universes, is an interesting one. The corollary is that all the counterparts of a given individual follow some Zen-like equivalent of the First Law of Theromodynamics (that their strengths are conserved). That also is the flaw in the idea driving the film: why make a distinction that limits strengths to individuals? Why not atoms or molecules? If the strengths holding together the atoms that compromise an individual were distributed to all atoms in all Universes when that individual died, then assuming an approximately equal number of births and deaths, no one would notice anything. (Presumably also, in the natural order of things in this film's Multiverse, a counterpart would be born every time one dies to ensure there is a balance.) When I saw the previews for this film, I thought that watching Jet Li fight with himself should be simply amazing. But it wasn't. The movie is interesting for the ideas it brings up, but there is very little of Jet Li's martial arts prowess on display here. The film is fast-paced and by the time the basic elements of the plot are set up, there's little time for fight sequences. The soundtrack for the film is very good. The joke of Al Gore as U.S. President in one Universe was topped by George W. Bush proposing universal health care in another. /The One/ is a great film to watch on the big screen, especially if you happen to like mostly brainless action. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- email@urls || http://www.ram.org || http://www.twisted-helices.com/th Movie ram-blings: http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies.html ========== X-RAMR-ID: 30255 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 267007 X-RT-TitleID: 1110343 X-RT-SourceID: 302 X-RT-AuthorID: 29