Subject: Review: One, The (2001)

From: Karina Montgomery <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 19:23:05 -0000

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.
[email-masked]
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

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