Today is 10 years Anniversary since Jet Li released his extravagant, special-effects sci-fi thriller, The One. y cool to see Jet Li and Jason Statham together.

The story’s premise relies on the theory that there may be many universes existing around us, and that if people could go from one to another, they could wreak serious havoc.

Jet Li plays an evil guy named Yulaw who’s trying to kill off all the duplicates of himself in the other universes. When the film starts, he has already killed 123 versions of himself and he’s after the last one, the 124th. Regardless, killing off the last one will give him ultimate power. He will be “the One.” All Yulaw knows for sure is that he has to get that last guy, who turns out to be a good, honest cop named Gabe. They are kind of like the good and evil clones of Big Arnold in The 6th Day.

The One isn’t a bad movie. In action it kicks in early and fast with amazing effects and a kick ass sci-fi wrapper to encase them in. Those first few fight scenes, while clearly Matrix inspired, are in themselves simply breathtaking.

But talking about storyline, instead of a big mind blowing spectacle, we are instead forced to watch an INCREDIBLY long and protracted battle in which Jet Li punches himself, gets back up, punches himself so more, and repeats.

Originally the film was to have starred The Rock, before Li assumed the lead role.

Both characters Gabriel Yu-Law and his alternate universe counterpart Gabe use martial arts which represent their personalities. Yu-Law uses Xingyiquan (The Shape-Will Fist), characterized by aggressive linear movements, while Gabe uses Baguazhang (The Eight Trigram Palms) which uses subtle, circular movements. These martial arts are confirmed by their own personalities as Yu-Law is very direct, not caring whom he hurts while Gabe believes life goes in a circle, perfectly balanced.

The One grossed $19,112,404 in its opening weekend in North America, opening at #2, and eventually grossed $43,905,746. In other territories, the film grossed $28,783,380, making for a worldwide total of $72,689,126.