Multiverse Action
The One is based on the idea that instead of a universe, we all actually live in a multiverse, where there are parallel universes and parallel ‘versions’ of all of us. These different versions are entirely different people than our individual selves. Humans have created the ability to traverse these different universes with wormhole technology, although it’s a technology that is closely guarded.
Jet Li plays several different characters, most prominently however are Yu Law and Gabe. Yu Law is a murderous criminal who uses the wormhole tech to travel to the other universes to kill the other versions of himself, thereby increasing his own energy and abilities. At the start of the film, he kills the 123rd version of himself, leaving just one version left to kill. He is already smarter, faster, and stronger than your average human as he has absorbed so much energy from his other slain selves. If he kills Gabe, the final version of himself, he will become even more powerful – he will become The One.
Jason Statham and Delroy Lindo are two officers who are tracking down Yu Law. They’re able to capture him during the first half hour of the film, but Yu Law escapes with help from one version of Carla Gugino’s character who helps create a distraction for Yu Law right before his execution to allow him to get away. Yu Law then begins his chase to find and kill Gabe, but Gabe is a highly skilled martial artist as well, and the final showdown will have the two fighting each other.
The One is a pretty good movie. The action is a mix of fast, aggressive martial arts that looks excellent and smooth, largely thanks to Jet Li’s abilities and the well done choreography. The sci-fi elements are interesting and fun, and the combination makes for a good weekend film.
The One Arrives On Blu-ray
The One on Blu-ray doesn’t include any new extra features, but naturally the image and sound quality are enhanced. The 1080p, widescreen presentation looks quite good, perhaps just shy of being great. Color vibrance and contrast is good, there isn’t a lot of grain, and the CG and other effects do nicely. For audio, a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track is used, and I thought it sounded very good, no complaints.
For extras, there is nothing HD or new, but the content itself is interesting. Included are:
-Audio Commentary with Director and Crew
-Jet Li Is The One – A nearly fourteen minute feature with cast and crew interviews, basically all patting each other on the back in how good they all are, fairly typical stuff. Jet Li, Director James Wong, Writer Glen Morgan, Jason Statham, Carla Gugino, and the idea of a multiverse are all explored. Lots of behind the scenes and production footage, as well as footage from the film are shown.
-Multiverses Create The One – More cast/crew interviews, more behind the scenes and film footage. The meat of this nineteen minute feature is the special effects production footage and ‘making of’ discussion – very interesting.
-About Face – A six minute piece about making the final battle between the two versions of Jet Li, and what went into making it work on screen from a production point of view.
-Many Faces of Jet Li – A two and a half minute montage that just shows the various versions of Jet Li throughout the film.
-Animatic Comparison – A one and a half minute split screen comparison of a particular scene in the film alongside the animatic version. The animatic version is partly toy figures and partly computer animation.
-BD Live – There is a Blu-ray Live feature included, but right now I just get an error message if I try to connect to it. I’m not for sure what features are planned for this.
Let’s get to the summary…