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One, The
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

7.0 based on 21 reviews Read critic reviews How did we calculate this? based on 32 votes Read user comments Rate this movie

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MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense action violence and some language

Starring Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Jason Statham, and Delroy Lindo

This supernatural action bonanza from director James Wong showcases martial arts expert Jet Li in a dual role as a police officer battling a sinister version of himself that has escaped from a parallel universe.

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Glen Morgan James Wong
DIRECTED BY:	James Wong
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 5, 2002  Video: March 5, 2002  Theatrical: November 2, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	87 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

Chicago Tribune Loren King

Hits the ground running and never lets up.

67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's more thrill ride than movie and Wong plays it that way: no sentiment, no complications and no pesky story to get in the way of an arsenal of flashy special effects.

50

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Overall, this sci-fi/martial arts hybrid has the stale aura of a product assembled out of bits of other action movies.

50

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

It's called One, and the hemorrhaging begins with the so-called story, which doesn't quite add up to one.

50

Miami Herald Charles Savage

When one actor plays both hero and villain, the viewer knows that what is being shown is not an authentic dance.

42

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's hardly much of a thrill to see The One recycle, on a lower budget, the slo-mo bullet dodges from "The Matrix," along with unspectacular variations on several other of that film's time-bending demolition-ballet effects.

40

Austin Chronicle Russell Smith

A “thrill ride” movie with all the predictability, brevity, and industrial efficiency that cliché implies.

40

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

There's nothing like a feature-length video game to make you feel you're being played.

38

Boston Globe Jay Carr

The problem in The One isn't the black holes in the universe, to which the characters refer at periodic intervals, but the black hole on the screen. The One is a zero.

38

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie offers brainless high-tech action without interesting dialogue, characters, motivation or texture.

30

Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart

Li's far too unthreatening a presence to cause much of a stir amid the din of hard rock music and the pall left by fight choreography that has had every last bit of life digitally drained away.

30

The New York Times Stephen Holden

So narratively garbled and its screenplay so underwritten that you have to strain to piece together the story.

30

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Pseudo sci-fi gobbledygook aside, X-Files alumni James Wong and Glen Morgan's script is little more than an excuse for Jet Li to kick his own ass, which he does energetically and often.

25

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

A stunt that fails.

25

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

An almost comically unsuitable title. There's absolutely nothing singular or special about this slapdash sci-fi film featuring martial-arts megastar Jet Li.

25

Baltimore Sun Staff (Not credited)

The One is all sound and fury, and nothing else.

20

Village Voice Ed Park

In The One the maze of death leads only to exhaustion -- a solipsistic extension of Bruce Lee pacing the room of mirrors at the end of "Enter the Dragon."

10

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The story is so ridiculous and the acting so completely amateurish, the fights have no dramatic impact; you don't care whether good Jet or bad Jet wins – not that you can tell them apart anyway.

10

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Whatever the title of the next installment, this movie is certainly One best forgotten.

10

New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky

A film bereft of emotion, characters and words with more than two syllables.

0

Variety Robert Koehler

The combo of cheesy effects and martial arts choreographer Cory Yuen's unimaginative staging results in something that's martial artless.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Akeem G. gave it a10:
The one is definitely one of the best movies that Jet Li has ever acted in.For starters I would like to say that this movie has nothing to do with the Matrix in fact The One is whole lot more better than any movie in the matrix series.My most favorite parts of the movie are the introduction and the ending because they had the most wicked fight scenes that I have ever seen in my life.I loved seeing the Cops getting their A$#ES kicked around in the beginning and then seeing prisoners get their tails kicked in the end.I am EXTREMELY glad that the creators didn't get the rock to star in this movie because The Rock's street fighting style isn't anywhere as cool as Jet Li's martial arts and he can't act as good as Jet either. I also annoyed the music that played for each fight scene because it really helped to bring the movie to life.The sound effects were also very nice, especially the lightning sounds that you hear in the final chapter in the movie when yu law got sent to the stygian penal colony.The last but not least thing about this movie was the purple lighting and other things that the creators used used in the introduction to separate the differences between the parallel universes.The concept of parallel universes has made a very interesting story and script. By the way the review that Taylor B. wrote me laugh a little.I'm just happy to see that there are other people that enjoyed the movie as much as i did, because most critics are A#$ES who wouldn't know a good movie or video game when they see one. I still watch this movie a couple times a week from time to time.

Warren E gave it a10:
Sheesh, where to start. Dude this movie rocked, It had action it had story and it had music, the martial arts was good, but I guess typical humans what they don't know they hate, he used like 3 forms of martial arts and the scenes were good, the graphics were good, and WHERE IN THE MATRIX DID YOU SEE BODIES GO SLOW MOTION, it was awesome they way the moved super slow and he Jet Li d their ass.

Frederick S. gave it a6:
Not a great martial arts movie but an interesting concept.

Tom M gave it a2:
Practically unwatchable. Not even worth wasting any more time relating how bad it is. As action film go, this one is a yawner.

Taylor B. gave it a 10:
By far The One is one of the best movies ive seen its awsome. The music rules.The fighting kicks ass.Everything about it kicks ass. I dont know what the critics are talking about,their idiots for not liking The One. Who cares if the storyline isnt the best at least its not the worst.

Alexander gave it a 7:
Well, i really like the movie, but it does have some mistakes ... Jet Li should get almost all of the credits 4 this movie ... I know how hard it is to have 2 rolls in a movie ... U gotta have 2 personalities if u want a movie to be good, that's why i say that Jet Li should get a lot of credits 4 this movie ... Try n understand, what he had to do wasn't easy and any good martial artist can tell u the same ... yeah, i know that there was a lot of special effects, but without a good actor all of those special efects don't mean sh.t. So, all the best to u guys, ohhh, n Jet Li ... I congratulate u on a job well done !

Robert gave it a 1:
Please, this movie was horrendous. The plot was lame, and the filmmakers didn't even follow the rules of their own universe (or multiverse, or whatever...) You're telling me that one guy can punch through metal walls, while another who is supposed to be the same strength can't break handcuffs? Sorry, I just don't get it. That may sound like a nitpick, but the movie was full of things like this. Anyway, that I can forgive, but the entire film felt like a big long introduction. Lots of action, but no time to actually slow down and develop a plot. Watching Jet Li fight himself (let me rip my shirt so that you can tell me and the other me apart) gets old after a while.

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