The One (2001 film)

The One

The One Hong Kong film poster
Directed by James Wong
Produced by Steve Chasman
Glen Morgan
Charles Newirth
James Wong
Todd Garner
Lata Ryan
Tom Sherak
Greg Silverman
Happy Walters
Written by Glen Morgan
James Wong
Starring
Music by Trevor Rabin
Cinematography Robert McLachlan
Edited by James Coblentz
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • November 2, 2001 (2001-11-02)
Running time
 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $49 million[1]
Box office $72.7 million[2]

The One is a 2001 American science fiction-martial arts film written and directed by James Wong. The film stars Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham and Carla Gugino. The film was released in the United States on November 2, 2001.

Plot

Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li), once an officer of the "Multiverse Authority" (MVA) that polices interdimensional travel (via detecting wormholes), seeks to hunt down all variations of himself in alternate universes. By killing all 124 of his other selves (becoming the last version) and absorbing their life energies, he believes he will become an immortal godlike being called "The One". Yulaw is briefly captured by MVA agents Rodecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Statham), only to escape from captivity during the trial sentencing him to life in the Stygian penal colony in the Hades universe.

The last known alternate, Gabriel (Gabe) Law, works in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. For two years he has been experiencing increases in strength, speed and mental ability, but neither he nor his wife, T.K. Law (Carla Gugino), can understand why. While transporting a prisoner for the Sheriff's Department, Gabe "feels" Yulaw's presence just before he attempts to kill Gabe. Yulaw escapes, but is followed by Gabe, who inhumanly leaps a very high wall. Landing on the other side, Gabe is shot and wounded by Yulaw. As Yulaw approaches Gabe to finish him off, they are interrupted by Rodecker and Funsch.

Gabe realizes Yulaw is identical to him in every way. Unfamiliar with the interdimensional travel concept, Yulaw's appearance is shocking. After checking into the hospital, Gabe feels Yulaw's presence again. There is another fight, which Rodecker and Funsch again foil. Yulaw deters them from shooting him because if he is killed, then Gabe would then be left as the only "One". Dressed alike and identical in every way, Gabe and Yulaw's battle confuses Gabe's police colleagues. Both Gabe and Yulaw manage to escape the hospital.

Rodecker is faced with a dilemma: they have to capture Yulaw, but they cannot kill him or allow Gabe to be killed because the other one will become "The One". Funsch insists that Yulaw, as the instigator, must be dealt with in a more aggressive manner. Rodecker makes a fateful decision to "go way off procedure" and split the team. Rodecker pursues and fights Yulaw and is killed when Yulaw breaks his neck. Funsch catches up with Gabe and tells him about the multiverse and why he has become stronger. Yulaw finds Gabe's residence where TK, believing it is Gabe, attempts to protect him, but she senses he is not her husband. Gabe arrives, only to have Yulaw force him to watch while he kills her. Funsch finds Gabe and they team up to find Yulaw at the next wormhole.

Yulaw, Gabe and Funsch arrive at the industrial plant, where the final battle between Gabe and Yulaw takes place. When Gabe eventually wins, all three are caught in a wormhole and taken back to the MVA headquarters in the Alpha Universe. Yulaw is transported immediately to the prison colony universe after a last attempt to switch places with Gabe. The MVA then prepares to send Gabe back to his own universe where he will be arrested and put in prison for the murders Yulaw committed, but Agent Funsch instead sends him to a universe similar to Gabe's past via another wormhole, after recalling an earlier conversation Gabe told him about the events which led up to him meeting his wife.

Meanwhile, Yulaw, now in the Stygian penal colony, declares he will still become the One. The camera pulls back to show that Yulaw, standing at the top of a Ziggurat in the Hades universe, battles hundreds of fighters as the credits roll.

Cast

Production

Originally the film was to have starred The Rock, before Li assumed the lead role.[3]

The hospital scenes were filmed at the North Hollywood Medical Center.

The documentary Jet Li is 'The One' on the special features section on the DVD explains that both Gabriel Yulaw and "Gabe" Law use martial arts that represent their personalities. Yulaw uses Xingyiquan (The Shape-Will Fist), characterized by aggressive linear movements, while Gabe uses Baguazhang (The Eight Trigram Palms) which uses subtle, circular movements. These martial arts are confirmed by their own personalities as Yulaw is very direct, not caring whom he hurts, while Gabe believes life goes in a circle, perfectly balanced.

Background information

As part of the promotion for the movie, there was an official website for the fictional Multiverse Authority called the "MVA Mainframe". Although the site is now defunct, it provided detailed background material on the storyline and some of the characters, including some that were not in the film. Below is the information from the site.

Reception

The One grossed $19,112,404 (an average of $6,604 per screen) in its opening weekend in North America, opening at #2, and eventually grossed $43,905,746. In other territories, the film grossed $28,783,380, making for a worldwide total of $72,689,126.[2]

The film received mostly negative reviews. Based on 85 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes as of April 2015, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 14%, with an average score of 3.9/10.[4]

Soundtrack

The score by Trevor Rabin was released, but the soundtrack was not.

  1. Drowning Pool – "Bodies"
  2. Drowning Pool – "Sinner"
  3. Disturbed – "Down with the Sickness"
  4. Godsmack – "Awake"
  5. Jesse Dayton – "Train of Dreams"
  6. Papa Roach – "Blood Brothers"
  7. Papa Roach – "Last Resort"
  8. Linkin Park – "Papercut"

References

  1. ↑ "The One (2001) – Box office / business". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "The One (2001)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  3. ↑ Fuchs, Cynthia (2001). "The One review". PopMatters. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ "The One (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 27, 2011.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.