Image courtesy of IMDb
Hello, everyone.
In my last review, I closed by stating that the next would more than likely be a treat in one form or another rather than hinting at what it would be. If you couldn’t tell by the subject, I actually was still hinting at it, albeit indirectly.
Today, we see the concept of the Multiverse over two decades before it became a trend. Here, it’s more simplistic, as we have one character on a quest for power, and another being the only one left in his way before he can achieve it.
There’s a first time for everything, and it turns out this is such an occasion. This is the first time where I’ll be covering what film enthusiasts like myself call a Guilty Pleasure, which is essentially a term for a movie being dubbed “So Bad It’s Good” (a prime example being The Room), and this movie has unintentional hilarity all over it. If you’re interested upon reading this review, I’ll also mention where you can find it at the end.
For times like this, I’ll be adding a new section to the review, and you’ll see what it is when I get to that.
Folks, you are indeed in for a treat with this movie, as I present my review of The One.
For those unfamiliar, a Multiverse is composed of multiple parallel universes, where there are more versions of you than you know. You’re who you are in your own, while there are many different versions of you that each occupy their own.
You can open and close wormholes to travel to them, but this is monitored by the Multiverse Authority, who can only use them for procedure purposes.
Gabriel Yulaw is an MVA agent who goes rogue and starts hunting down every other variation of him in order to absorb their energy and be “The One”, where he’s essentially an unstoppable being with godlike capabilities.
Upon taking out Lawless (the 123rd), Yulaw is taken into custody and sentenced to life. However, he escapes and travels to the universe where the last variation is.
That variation is Gabe Law, a deputy sheriff who has been experiencing strange and sudden increases in strength, speed, and mentality.
He discovers that he and Yulaw are equal in every way, and though two MVA agents are also there to help, Gabe is the only one who can face him and keep the multiverse balanced.
What Worked: Jet Li does a great job at conveying the duality between Gabe and Yulaw*.
Not only that, the fights between the two of them do look quite convincing and don’t come across as unintentionally hilarious (though a fair amount of other aspects do, but I’ll get to that).
His love interest is played by Carla Gugino (who you may remember as the Mom from Spy Kids or the original Silk Spectre from Watchmen). Though she has multiple versions as well, she does best as T.K., Gabe’s wife. You can tell she’s as concerned as he is about what’s happening.
The two agents, Harry Roedecker and Evan Funsch, are played respectively by Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham.
They’re the ones playing it somewhat straight, particularly Lindo. As for Statham, he’s great at playing the “hot shot, loose cannon” type, and the two of them do get some good moments, as they play off of each other really well.
The action, as elaborate as it is, is a lot of fun, and James Wong’s direction (not James Wan; totally different) is solid even outside of those moments. It’s very effective when there are breaks from the action.
I appreciated how this pretty much went right into the action, and I knew what I was in for within the first five minutes… because it’s already gotten to it within the first five minutes.
The choreography was good**, even with the cheesy sound effects added onto them.
I also did like the distinction between universes, as much as we don’t get to see a lot of that. The biggest example is early on in the movie, we’re at a universe where Al Gore became President, and then later we get to one where the real outcome still happened.
What Didn’t Work: My main issue (legitimate, anyway) is that there was at least one plot hole that I noticed.
When Carla Gugino first shows up as Yulaw’s girlfriend***, she isn’t really given anything to do other than break him out. After that happens, she’s never shown again for the rest of the movie.
While most of the story is predictable, that didn’t really bother me as much.
What’s A Bit Of Both: Now we get to the part I’ve been waiting for. There’s so much in this that’s unintentionally hilarious.
I’ll actually start with the dialogue. A lot of it is laughably bad. Early on in the movie, Yulaw starts running and a cop goes, “He’s going O.J.!” and the cops start chasing him. Out of context, it’s bad, but in context it’s so bad you can’t help but laugh at it.
There are two examples I especially wanted to highlight in reviewing this movie. The first is a scene where Yulaw has stolen a van, and he’s playing with the radio, not knowing Roedecker is in there with him. The timing of when Roedecker reveals himself and Yulaw’s reaction is priceless.
The funniest one is actually at the very end of the movie. The last line of the movie is one of the funniest final lines in any movie ever.
If you thought the sound effects were cheesy throughout the whole movie, it’s most evident there.
One other thing before I move on to my next point: Not only is it jarring to see Jason Statham with hair in this, but he also has a hilariously bad American accent.
The visual effects have not aged well at all, to the point where you also can’t help but laugh at those moments.
The funniest thing in terms of the action is shortly after the radio scene. Yulaw is confronted by the cops, including two motorcycle cops. I’m not making a word of this up: He takes their motorcycles and basically swings them around like nunchucks as he’s taking them out.
One that’s also hilarious is the escape scene. An explosion happens to shatter the glass in the walls of the room he’s in, and as it goes off, “Down with the Sickness” by Disturbed starts playing. At one point, he grabs a gun as two guards come in, and not only does it look like they’re entering to the beat, but the same goes for when he shoots them.
Speaking of that, we now get to the portion of the movie I was most eager to talk about when I got to reviewing it.
If there’s one thing I genuinely love about this movie, it’s the music. Trevor Rabin’s score is really good, but the soundtrack is even better.
The first action sequence kicks off with “Bodies” by Drowning Pool. Not only is it their best known song (and one of my favorites), but those who grew up in the 2000s like myself will remember how often they used it.
During that time, they used it a lot, especially in trailers. There were mostly times where they’d use this in the trailer, but have them on the soundtrack with a different song usually made for the movie (such as Daredevil and The Punisher).
Instead of doing that, they just use songs off their debut album “Sinner”. They use this in the opening, and then they play the title song twice, the second time being in the first half of the credits.
They also play Papa Roach three times, with “Blood Brothers” for the final battle (and the second half of the credits) and “Last Resort” for the end of the movie.
The latter is worth noting because it’s one of those times where you can say it both does and doesn’t fit the movie. It does in the sense that it’s a rock song in an action scene. It doesn’t in the sense of what the song is really about, and due to it being a heavy and sensitive subject matter, I won’t go into it here.
One last thing, and this is practically a nitpick on my part.
Though no soundtrack album was ever released (yet the score was), no matter what the Internet may tell you, there aren’t any other songs used in the movie besides what’s listed in the credits. I know because it tricked me into believing that, and it’s a shame it wasn’t true. There were three other songs that were claimed to have been used in the movie, all of which I like: “Awake” by Godsmack and “Papercut” and “One Step Closer” by Linkin Park. The latter was used in another movie, but that’s for another review.
If you can’t tell, this is mainly a nitpick for me because of the missed opportunities right there.
Overall: Since this is my first time doing a Guilty Pleasure movie, I need to address something.
In terms of what makes a movie a Guilty Pleasure, there’s two things that you need to do before watching it. You need to know what you’re in for, and you especially need to have the right mindset. Otherwise, you won’t be able to enjoy it the way I and so many others do.
Now, if you want a Multiverse movie that isn’t too complex to follow, or an action movie that you just want to laugh at, look no further than The One.
When there’s some good aspects and some bad ones, yet it’s mostly in between, you know you’re in for a treat.
It’s not a great movie, but it’s dumb and fun at the same time, which is another way to put it when describing this particular type of movie.
With solid performances, elaborate but still fun action, competent direction, and of course great music, it’s the cheesiness around it that makes it fun to watch because of how dumb it is.
If you’re interested in checking it out, it’s on Netflix at the time of this writing.
Next time, we go from the Multiverse to a post-apocalyptic setting that still involves a fight for survival.
*He also briefly appears as each of seven of Yulaw’s victims shown in photographs during the trial scene.
**Fun Fact: Ke Huy Quan (Short Round himself) assisted with that for both this movie and the first X-Men. He had been doing that for the most part up until last year when he came back to acting (fittingly with another Multiverse movie, which won him an Oscar).
***She isn’t addressed by name in the movie, and as for why T.K. doesn’t have a name for those initials to stand for, I have no idea.