The One *** (2001, Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham) – Classic Movie Review 2201

Co-writer/director James Wong‘s impressive, flashy-looking 2001 futuristic martial arts adventure stars Jet Li, as Gabriel Yulaw, Gabe Law and Lawless, Carla Gugino as Gabe’s loving wife T.K. Law, Jason Statham as MVA Agent Evan Funsch and Delroy Lindo as MVA Agent Harry Roedecker.

An evil genius, power-hungry sociopath Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li), goes dimension-hopping on a perilous journey through a multitude of parallel universes on a killing spree focused on his alternate universe counterparts who grow stronger with each alternate self he kills. Yulaw finally comes to our universe to kill the last remaining version of himself – the honest, decent Gabe Law.

The sci-fi plot may be nuts but the visuals are exciting and the martial arts action is fast and furious. And so it turns out to be a good vehicle for Jet Li.

The scenes with Jet Li fighting himself are shot with Li and a stuntman with a similar build. The stuntman’s face was painted green so it could afterwards be digitally replaced with Li’s face.

Original star Dwayne Johnson left the project to work on The Mummy Returns (2001). Characters have the last names of movie directors: Woo, Scott, Yates, Siegel, Besson.

Wong is also the director of Final Destination (2000), Final Destination 3 (2006)  and Dragonball: Evolution (2009).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2201

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