Movie Journal: The One

Like many stylized and potential-brimming action flicks before it, this film utlimately falls short of the mark. The action may be incredible, but the plot starts out ambitious and ends up just plain generic. This is a real pity, especially considering the story's stellar premise.

Basically, the world is not made up of a single unified universe, but rather a multiverse. There are hundreds of universes, and chance dictates that every few universes there is an alternate you. So, believe it or not, some psycho in the distant future finds a way to move in between these universes, and thereby begins assassinating all his alternate selves, one by one. It's then up to the members of the interuniversal republic to track down and stop him, before he becomes The One, and throws off the balance of energy between worlds.

Again, it's a cool idea, and the action isn't so bad, either. How they were able to take clearly Matrix-style concepts into a totally new direction is a little beyond me, but it works. Time and again we see Jet Li dodging bullets and running across walls, but he does it in a style entirely seperate from what The Matric accomplished. Kudos to that. Still, there's little that can save a film from a monotonous plot. See it if you must, but just don't expect to be entirely satisfied.

6 out of 10