List Price: $26.95 Our Price: $24.26YOU SAVE $2.69!
Buy it
DVD The One (Superbit Collection)
The One sets a martial arts milestone by pitting action star Jet Li against his greatest enemy: himself. This sci-fi thriller establishes a "multiverse" consisting of countless parallel universes, each populated by variants of every individual. Li plays a renegade from the Multiverse Agency, illegally traveling through "quantum tunnels" to eliminate all versions of himself until only two remain, each sharing the cumulative strength of their "parallel universe versions." This mumbo-jumbo inspires a variety of dazzling special effects, and director James Wong (with cowriter and fellow X-Files alumnus Glen Morgan) injects clever humor into the Matrix-derivative premise. Carla Gugino is wasted as the "good" Li's obligatory love interest, but The One will appeal to action fans with its fast-paced pursuit between the evil Li and two agents (Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham) assigned to stop his trans-universal killing spree. It's a one-gimmick movie, best enjoyed with your brain in neutral. --Jeff Shannon
And in a movie all ABOUT range, Jet can't pull it off
Van Damme tried to do it in Timecop. Schwarzenegger tried it in The Last Action Hero. It seems every action hero has to eventually face himself. Literally, by playing his twin. Jet Li decided to get a head start by doing this movie relatively early in his career.
I really didn't expect much of this movie. The plot is complex: 125 parallel dimensions exist. A member of the Multiverse Bureau of Investigation accidentally kills one of his alteregos in a parallel universe and discovers that he becomes stronger, faster, and more powerful. Realizing that, if he kills all of his multiple selves, this process can make him a god, he goes off on a killing spree in the most egregious example of self-loathing this side of sci-fidom.
WAY too many critics put this movie down for its special effects. Specifically, that the effects mimic the Matrix. So what? Seeing Jet grab two motorcycles, one in each hand, and smash a man to death with them is a thrill. He kicks cops out of thin air, dodges bullets, and jumps across buildings. That's the best part of the movie.
The problem is, Jet Li just can't act. Or I should say, he can't act well. The plot demands a lot of him -- this is a rare instance of a script being better than the actor can handle. Jet Li is supposed to weep over his wife's loss, act in multiple roles as his multiple selves, display rage, hope, madness...more than most people display in a year. Jet can't do it. His English is quite good, but he simply doesn't have the range.
And in a movie all ABOUT range, Jet can't pull it off. But that's okay, what he does is some amazing martial arts, demonstrates really cool special effects, and provides a funky plotline that inspired me enough to want to run a mini-campaign in this setting (maybe I will, hmmm). That's the highest compliment I can give any movie.
Average action from Li...
The one reason to see "The One" is for the fight scenes, which are done considerably well, looking sleek and smooth. The rest of the movie falls under itself in tired cliches, a silly plot, and weak acting. But the action is cool. The story involves a multiverse, a collection of different universes. Everyone has a copy of themselves in each universe. Kill one of yourself and you get stronger. Kill all of them, and you become the one. It's not as confusing as it sounds, but it does have many plot holes that don't help the movie. The fight scenes look taken right out of "The Matrix," with Li dodging bullets and fighting in slow motion, but it doesn't look as shaky as "Romeo Must Die," which is, oddly enough, a better flick. Fans of martial-arts movies will find much to be entertained by. Those looking for substance may wish to steer clear.
Who cares about the multiverse
Terribly boring. I tried my best to like this as a Jet Li fan, but couldn't. If being bored could make you cry, then I'd have to setup a dam outside of my house.
Let's face it: No one is usually checking a Jet Li movie for the verbal sparring. In Kiss of the Dragon, Chinese undercover agent Li chops his way through Paris after he's framed in some sketchily defined drug sting operation. The fight sequences are tough and quite brutal, and the over-the-top finale is arguably worth the price of admission, wherein an implacable Li takes on the entire Paris Police Bureau, working his way up toward police chief Tchéky Karyo's office through cops, a pair of peroxide-blond twin henchmen, and a whole class of kung fu cadets. Co-screenwriter Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita) should know by now what makes for a nifty genre piece, but the woeful dialogue is a shame, and there aren't nearly enough action sequences to get your blood... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jet Li - Bridget Fonda Director(s): Chris Nahon DVD Release Date: Released the 22 January 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $13.48YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
Cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, the cameraman behind Speed, Lethal Weapon 4, and The Devil's Advocate, makes his directorial debut with a lively but by-the-numbers film that mixes Hong Kong action pyrotechnics with gritty urban gang drama. Jet Li stars as a jailed cop named Han who hightails it to Oakland, California, to seek revenge for the gang-related murder of his brother. What he finds, though, is a fierce war between his father's syndicate and that of Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo) for control of the city's precious waterfront land, as both groups are trying to make a deal with a corrupt football-team owner to build a new stadium. The political shenanigans are basically just a backdrop for the kick-ass action, and to give Li a number of enemies to lock limbs... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jet Li - Aaliyah Director(s): Andrzej Bartkowiak DVD Release Date: Released the 01 August 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $12.97 Your Price: $11.67YOU SAVE $1.3!
Buy it
The intriguing cross-pollination of rap and kung-fu continues with Cradle 2 the Grave, co-starring high-profile rapper DMX and Hong Kong superstar Jet Li. Master thief Fait (DMX) hits a diamond exhange but comes away with a bag of black gems of mysterious origin. When a crime kingpin steals the gems from Fait, an international arms dealer kidnaps Fait's beloved daughter--and Fait can only get her back with the help of Su (Li), a Taiwanese intelligence agent tracking the gems himself. A summary of the plot doesn't do Cradle 2 the Grave justice; while the basic story elements suggest a dozen generic action flicks, the cast (including Anthony Anderson, Gabrielle Union, and Kelly Hu) has genuine charisma and the movie layers action on top of action to strong effect. ... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jet Li - DMX - Mark Dacascos Director(s): Andrzej Bartkowiak DVD Release Date: Released the 01 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.96 Your Price: $13.46YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
Take the art direction and set design from The Crow and Batman. Add a male-bonding element reminiscent of The Killer or Hard-Boiled. Stir in a plot line about some top-secret near-invincible bionic-man superwarriors taking over the drug trade in Hong Kong, with only one man who can stop them. Season with a high body count, lots of explosions and running gun battles, and spectacular hand-to-hand fight sequences. Top off with a soupçon of cheesy comic relief and a generous helping of atrocious dubbing. Bake for too long, then remove from oven and allow to cool until thoroughly stale. The result: Black Mask. Sure, it's a preposterous recipe (bet you didn't know that LED readouts will show up on an X-ray), but it's stylishly prepared and presented,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jet Li Director(s): Daniel Lee (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 19 June 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $9.98 Your Price: $9.98YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
Vin Diesel is no James Bond, and he doesn't want to be. That's why XXX announced Diesel as the adrenalin-junkie Bond of the PlayStation generation, copying the Bond formula so shamelessly that this action-packed silliness would be a Bond movie if it starred Pierce Brosnan. Reuniting Diesel with his Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, XXX has an attitude (if not a brain) all its own, plucking Diesel's Xander Cage from his celebrity as an extreme sports renegade, recruited by a National Security Agency big shot (Samuel L. Jackson) to foil a nasty Czech villain (Marton Csokas) who's eager to depopulate Prague with remote-controlled biological weaponry. Toss in a sulky, sultry Russian agent (Asia Argento) and you've got extreme Bond-age for anyone who thinks... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vin Diesel - Asia Argento Director(s): Rob Cohen DVD Release Date: Released the 31 December 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.94 Your Price: $13.45YOU SAVE $1.49!
Buy it
