At the end of this week, The One he leaves netflix. And there is an interesting backstory behind this movie.
Glen Morgan i James Wong — the creative team behind the original Final Destination – initially wanted to distribute Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the main character a The One.
Ultimately, they made the best choice by going with the Hong Kong martial arts movie icon Jet Li.
Contemporary critics did not like it The Onebut it is Watch with usChoose to watch this weekend, even if it’s just to see a young man Jason Statham hook up with some villains.
Many of Netflix’s best sci-fi movies in 2025 didn’t stick around for the new year. Movies like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Martian with Matt Damon will definitely be missed. The 5th Wave and The One will also be released at the end of the month. Thank you! you (…)
Jet Li delivers two great performances
Technically, Li plays at least nine characters The Onebut the focus narrows to two variants: Gabe Law and Gabriel Yulaw. This movie was made more than two decades earlier Oscar winner Everywhere Everything at onceand it’s not as introspective as this movie. But he uses the concept of the multiverse to great effect as Yulaw travels from universe to universe to kill every variant of himself he can find.
Li’s villainous character is actually more charismatic than his normal counterpart, Law. There’s a certain joy Li takes in playing such a bad guy that it’s hard not to smile or laugh when he makes his grand plans to become a god by killing his latest variant. It’s over the top in the nicest possible way. At the same time, it gives Law an attractive and heroic persona as the one man in the entire multiverse who might be able to stop himself.
The martial arts action in the film is intense
This is one of the reasons why it would have been a mistake to cast The Rock in the lead roles of The One. Despite the great talent Johnson displayed The Smashing Machinehe just wasn’t a very good actor in 2001. Nor would the action have had the same martial arts action that Li knew so well. He gave Law and Yulaw their own distinct fighting styles for the film, as one of the ways to distinguish them from each other.
The difference between the two styles may only have been really noticeable to martial arts fans, but the subtle touches help. The special effects weren’t as good then as they are now, but for the most part, the film creates a convincing illusion of two Jet Lis kicking each other. This was very important to making the film work.
Jason Statham shines, but so does everyone else
The One it was made so long ago that Jason Statham he still had hair, and was relegated to a supporting role. Statham and the recently nominated for an Oscar Delroy Lindo played by Evan Funsch and Harry Roedecker, respectively. They were a pair of Multiverse Authority agents tasked with bringing their former partner, Yulaw, back to his original universe to face justice. Both are very good in their roles, although they don’t have as much to do as Li.
Carla Gugino co-stars as Law’s wife, TK Law, as well as Yulaw’s lover, Massie Walsh. Gugino makes the most of his limited screen time, but one of the film’s biggest failings is that he doesn’t make full use of his talents. Breaking Bad‘s Dean Norris he has a much smaller supporting role as Sgt. Siegel, but this film’s casting director clearly had an eye for talent.
Although The One not considered a classic of the genre, it’s still a lot of fun to revisit nearly 25 years after its release. So grab it while you can.
The One it’s streaming netflix.