Cradle 2 The Grave Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Born 2 the life. True 2 the code. Bad 2 the bone.
Kanteihyôka, 100 karat no kyôki [Japan]
Mortal enemies make dangerous friends.
When his daughter is kidnapped and held in exchange for priceless diamonds, the leader of a crew of highly skilled urban thieves (DMX) forges an unlikely alliance with a Taiwanese Intelligence officer (Jet Li) to rescue her. Their race against the clock to find the precious stones ultimately unravels a plot to distribute a deadly new weapon of war.
| DMX | Fait |
| Jet Li | Su |
| Anthony Anderson | Tommy |
| Kelly Hu | Sona |
| Tom Arnold | Archie |
| Mark Dacascos | Ling |
| Gabrielle Union | Daria |
| Michael Jace | Odion |
| Drag-On | Miles |
| Paige Hurd | Vanessa |
| Paolo Seganti | Christophe |
| Richard Trapp | Douglas |
| Ron Yuan | Laser Tech |
| Woon Young Park | Bald Enforcer |
| Johnny Nguyen | Ling's Hitman |
| Andrzej Bartkowiak |
5.30 out of 10 (7280 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Hugely entertaining action flick
posted on 08 Aug 2009Get one thing straight. Jet Li is the new Bruce Lee.But where Bruce's movies lacked in quality, contrivance and script/acting, Li's kick proverbial ass and more.It all starts off with some diamond thieves, including sexy Gabrielle Union and bad boy DMX, robbing very rare and precious diamonds. They manage to get out of the highly secure building free but are tracked down by Jet Li, who gets a bag but misses out on the golden jackpot, which "unfortunately" falls off the edge of moving train.But there's a twist.Some very nasty clichéd foreigners wish for the diamonds very much, taking DMX'S daughter for ransom, leaving the big D meister no choice to team up with ass-kicking kung-fu master Jet Li, equally eager to reclaim the diamonds for his home country. He works for them, or something.You know what to expect. An hour and a half of extremely entertaining fight sequences and humour (provided expertly by Anthony Anderson). And there's also a pretty saucy nude scene including the babe of the film to top things off.Wow.Final Rating: 8 out of 10
pretty good movie
posted on 06 Aug 2009I thought this movie was overall very entertaining and what I was expecting. The action scenes are ridiculous but fun to watch and everyone is perfect in their roles. It has some good comedy relief from Tom Arnold and another guy which lightened up the movie alot. Overall a fun time
Li doing his thing with DMX
posted on 31 Jul 2009DMX (Exit Wounds, Romeo Must Die), Anthony Anderson (Exit Wounds, Romeo Must Die), and Tom Arnold (Exit Wounds) join forces together again in a funny vehicle for Jet Li to demonstrate his acting and martial arts ability. These three were last together with Steven Segal in Exit Wounds. They had the gorgeous Eva Mendes with them at that time, but here she was replaced by the equally gorgeous Gabrielle Union.Jet Li was as impressive as ever, especially in the final battle with Mark Dacascos. Gabrielle Union held her own in a fight with Kelly Hu (X-2). Arnold and Anderson provide the humor, as they did before. Li seems to get better and better as an actor to complement his martial arts ability. All-in-all, a great movie.
Substance 2 The Grave.
posted on 25 Jul 2009"Cradle 2 The Grave" is an action movie by the same people who brought you Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds... And it shows. Skeleton-thin story, two-dimensional characters, and action for action's sake. Usually when you watch an action movie - not always, but usually - the action scenes serve as a means to tie the story together. In this movie, the exact opposite is true. Therefore, the flow of narrative serves only to fill the gaps between scenes where Jet Li unleashes Wushu fury on his opponents, who for the most part tend to be guys who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The action is well done, don't get me wrong, but for some reason Jet Li just seems uncomfortable here. Perhaps it's just the role he was given, but for some reason he never quite "clicked" with everything else that was going on.
Another gripe I had about the movie is that we're told who everyone is by other characters. Instead of showing Jet's history with the villain portrayed by Mark Dacascos, we just hear Jet saying "We used to be on the same side, he betrayed us, etc. etc." This keeps things going along at a fast pace, but personally I like my movies fleshed out a little bit - even a flashback scene would have been enough. Since it's not, the final battle really doesn't mean anything. Oh well, I guess I'm just asking too much.I suppose that after "Kiss of the Dragon" and even "The One" I was expecting Jet Li's U.S. track record to improve, not slide backwards 3 years, to "Romeo Must Die" status. Perhaps after "Hero" is released state side we'll start getting some good projects from Li. Until then, we'll have to deal with more DMX (Get At Me, Dawg!) movies.For now, I'll continue to watch Fist of Legend. If you haven't, I recommend you see that rather than this.
ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz
posted on 21 Jul 2009Boring!! This movie is total garbage -- anyway you slice it. We can only pray that the bad acting by the two leads and the abysmal plot mean we won't be seeing Cradle 2 the Grave part 2 anytime soon. I promise that the action is nothing special at all, and you'll be p***ed off you spent money to watch this garbage. When is Hollywood going to wake up and make action movies directed by people that understand how to film action and tell a story at the same time -- coupled with real movie stars in the leads, not second rate hacks and rap stars?
It started well, it fell down
posted on 01 Jul 2009This was a relatively interesting hybrid between Seagal and Chan movies on the whole. The whole martial arts and pure good old brutality is defenitely inspired by the previous two actors.Now, for some reason I really enjoyed this movie, to a point. Let's go through our checklist:1. kung fu.. check 2. car chases.. check 3. cage fights.. check 4. underground mob.. check 5. nuclear weapons.. check 6. money.. check 7. blood.. check 8. good old street fights.. check 9. zombies.. nope 10. girls.. check 11. kids in distress.. check
12. cheese family kidnapping one man quest to rescue family.. check 13. stupid characters.. check 14. a totally out of proportion never gonna happen ending.. checkSo, that alone makes it worth watching. However if you notice that after 10, everything else should not have been there. This movie started fun, it had great sequences, acceptrable, even if corny dialogue but managed to become totally far fetched near the end till you are thinking what on earth are they thinking. All in all, it's fun. Leave your brain and watch the brawn. 7/10 because it was violently funny.
Worthy Timewaster
posted on 23 Jun 2009Nothing great or even good in this film but its worth wasting time on in a good theatre once. Jet Li delivers his usual half assed formula of bad acting and mediocre kung fu mixed with Rapper attitude and the same old cast and comedians from all the previous movies which were similar and used the same formula. He tries really hard each time but doesn't really deliver. There's no great plot, basically some nuclear crap got stolen from Taiwan (yes Taiwan, and its not a nuke weapon state by any streach) and the bad guys wanna sell it to terrorists. Its extremely embarrassing to see DMX do martial arts. I did'nt know whether to laugh or vomit. DMX goes around kicking butt and eventually teams up with Jet Li and defeats the bad guys. Stupid but can be quite entertaining.
Sways on the line of entertaining and ridiculous
posted on 10 May 2009A thief steals a stash of black diamonds and this accidentally involves his family in an international terrorist plot since the diamonds are not just your typical diamonds. He joins forces with a mysterious guy who is dressed in all black and can kick serious ass with his martial arts skills to set things right. And, of course, kill the bad guys.The plot is pretty silly, but the action is decent so if you just want to see a cheesy action movie, this is a pretty good choice. However, the film tries hard to have a dramatic and thriller edge that is just laughable. It tries to go push itself into a larger scope by the end. That is where you'll either tell yourself that you enjoyed the movie, or whether the whole thing just crashed and burned for you. However there is a good array of stunts and Jet Li shows off what he does best (again). However, at the same time the some of the action scenes seem to beg you into thinking that they are good with their fast paced editing and slow mo that doesn't really manage to cover up much of their mediocrity.Basically it is just a direct-to-video action movie, but with star power. It was that, and only that, which provided it with its theater run. --- 5/10 Rated R for violence and profanity
not bad overall
posted on 30 Apr 2009*minor spoiler alert*I went to see it today, I thought it was good overall. It's about a man(DMX) who steals some diamonds that were meant to be used to design nukes. In return, X's daughter is kidnapped in collateral for the black jewels. Jet Li is a cop from Taiwan who is out to get them back as well as his own personal revenge. There is some good comic relief but sometimes it's kind of stupid as well as some of the lines but hell, I still liked it.
Jet Li and DMX had some great action scenes, all of them were good.
Gabrielle Union is great as a co-hero w/ Jet and X in this as well...w/o the excess humor it could've been better however it still managed to pull through7/10
Li and Dacascos - what a waste
posted on 16 Apr 2009The next time Jet Li and Mark Dacascos work together (and i hope there is a next time), it should be to knock some sense into Jet Li's Hollywood agent, or adviser or whatever. To be in one movie with DMX could be considered unfortunate. Two is sheer stupidity. (Choosing 'The One' over 'Matrix Reloaded' is more like a case of "out of the frying pan into the fire").This is a bad movie. The cliché-ridden plot lurches from one badly acted scene of hip-hop machismo to the next, pausing only briefly for some unnecessary sentimentality involving the obligatory cute kid. Tom Arnold is as annoying as ever. Anthony Anderson offers occasional comic relief, but is still not as funny as the truly laughable script.All this might be forgivable if the Dacascos/Li showdown was worthwhile, but this is another big disappointment - the editing is done in the frenetic Hollywood style that doesn't let you see what's going on, and the fight is interspersed with two other pointless fights for no good reason.I have nothing at all against dumb action movies, no matter how dumb, but this doesn't seem like an actual movie made by professional movie-makers at all, so much as a mess constructed by throwing together lots of elements some 14-year-old fanboy wanted to see in a film together. Watch 'Drive' and 'Fist of Legend' instead.
Somebody please put poor Jet Li in better films.
posted on 08 Apr 2009* 1/2 out of ****Cradle 2 the grave is yet another churned out, overdone, and not particularly entertaining latest addition to the long line of subpar martial arts thrillers on Jet Li's American resume. To date, his only consistently enjoyable film made in the states has been Kiss of the Dragon, which worked because it focused on what we like about Li: a loner who must fend off assassins with his martial arts prowess. His other movies have either involved too much wirework, incomprehensible stories, and/or too much sci-fi crap. And for some reason, the studio execs at Warner Brothers seem to think Li should be partnered up with singers/rappers. If you ask me, it's a terrible idea, since it's often better to place someone with at least marginal acting abilities beside Li's quiet, kick-ass charisma.Cradle 2 the Grave could be entertaining if director Andrzej Bartkowiak weren't so concerned with giving the fight scenes so much flash, or maybe if the comic relief weren't in the hands of Tom Arnold (who does get off a few decent lines) and Anthony Anderson, the latter of whom is simply becoming the most grating actor working in Hollywood. The opportunity for a thrilling climax is sidestepped altogether. What should have been a showdown for the ages, Jet Li vs. Mark Dacascos, is a rather short one-minute fight sequence that's lazily intercut with two other fights, one of which is Gabrielle Union against Kelly Hu. For some reason, watching Union put up martial arts moves simply isn't convincing.One need only to look at last year's The Transporter to see how a simple martial arts film can be done right. The Jason Statham vehicle was a success because the film wisely knew to let its star steal the show, not put too much excess baggage in the story, and had action scenes that were actually terrifically staged and choreographed. No need for anly flash or pizazz, something Bartkowiak would be wise to learn. Till then, why not have Li just go back to working with his past directors, like Corey Yuen or Tsui Hark, guys who actually know how to craft a martial arts thriller.
Lots of fast action, but..........
posted on 15 Mar 2009This film features outstanding martial arts (some of it more like stunts, although very good), and lots of entertaining fast action. However, all that hitting and our stars never bleed or bruise. The overall effect is somewhat like fantasy, or a live-action cartoon.DMX has charisma but is not much of an actor, although OK for action roles such as this. Jet Li has terrific screen presence but is not really asked to act here, so you can't tell if he is a good or a bad actor. He appears bored. Their roles are charismatic and not deep, consequently these two lead actors unfortunately aren't given the opportunity to interact much or make it a "buddy" movie or anything.Gabrielle Union does a great job as she gives her "eye-candy" role some empowerment and sophistication.The sci-fi type science involving something called "black diamonds" is really hokey, but this film is entertaining and is to be recommended for action-movie fans. It is a strong entry in the action genre, but action is all it's got.
A fun ride
posted on 09 Mar 2009Now, the actors in this film will not be needed on Oscar night, but I think that anyone that judges this movie soley on that criteria is mistaken. Cradle 2 the Grave is a fun ride and delivers plenty of what it is supposed to: Action. This is a movie in a specific genre and gives the viewer the goods. In addition, it comes complete with a slammin soundtrack and the screenwriter does what he can to insert a good amount of humor throughout the flick, making it appealing to those who do not live by action alone. Worth the ticket price!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I Give To You : Gabrielle Union's Great Striptease (and Great Ass !)
posted on 25 Feb 2009Nothing here is greater than this beautiful, marvelous, and rare dance (and ASS!). I bet the DVD got sold only for this important bit. Many stripteases along the history of cinema were highly good, now that's a one of the highest. Surely it can join that list where you can find Ann-Margret's dance in The Swinger (1966), and Sophia Loren's one in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963). Now Gabrielle Union's is here with her classy, smart, and outrageously sexy striptease. I love this smartness at making these moments as loyal as this. When the camera shots Union's ass from such a low angel while she was taking off her damn short skirt by dancing and wiggling her eatable chocolate butt ; it's undoubtedly one holy moment in the history of the cinematic sex. I know, a lot of boys, men, lesbians, dreamt of putting their tongue in the middle of this delicious moving derrière, I was one of them (wishing for a bite to these incredible cheeks too!). The red panty was a nice touch as well. I only envy the cameraman who got to be under her lovely ass while doing this. However, the bad thing is that Union looked dull, I mean her face's features weren't as cleaver as her body, or that wicked direction of the whole dance. For instance her licking was something that a 14 year old girl might describe as childish! Anyway, I assure to you; the edges of Union's panty will touch your face indeed. I can't forget Gabrielle Union's intro at one dumb movie named (Two Can Play That Game) in red dress with her navel shown. She is certainly sexy, in many movies and photos too, but believe me Not like this time at all. The BOTTOM line : Buy it, to fondle and indulge yourself with Union's ultimate sexual fantasy. This sequence is made entirely and dazzlingly for that. Really her ass never looked smoother, bolder, or closer ! It made me ask : why anal sex is that hateful ?!!
If you're into 2 hour commercials with lots of FX, you'll like it.
posted on 13 Feb 20093 of 10Only this high a rating because the sound and visual FX were well done. The soundtrack was pretty good, too, but often sounds like a rip off of background audio from computer games like Half-Life.As to the low rating, the movie is like watching a James Bond movie written by the pope and directed by a christian gangsta rap "artist". Even a decent performance by Jet Li can't make this worth your time or money.
Jet Li looked nearly as bored as I felt
posted on 09 Feb 2009Apparently there is little room for true action heroes anymore, at least if you would believe Andrzej Bartkowiak. This guy seems to think that action heroes need a rapper buddy to be taken seriously. Want proof? See 'Romeo Must Die' and 'Exit Wounds'. Not to mention this trend carrying on into Steven Seagal's 'Half Past Dead', and other terrible action films like 'Torque'. Seagal's career may be dead, but Jet Li certainly doesn't need to be hanging around with Tom Arnold, Anthony Anderson and Andrzej Bartkowiak just to keep making movies. We still love you Jet, please don't do this to yourself.Ling (Mark Dacascos) hires Fait (DMX) to pull off a diamond heist involving black diamonds. The diamonds belong to Taiwan, and a Taiwanese agent named Su (Jet Li) attempts to recover them. Fait's deal with Ling goes sour, and so Ling kidnaps Fait's daughter Vanessa (Paige Hurd) and steals the diamonds himself. Su's mission is to kung-fu his way to Ling and the diamonds, while Fait pretends to kung-fu his way to Vanessa.So the plot involves both a kidnapping AND super-weapons! That's two clichés already! Clichés, I can stand, but I'm not so sure about dubious choices for good guys. DMX's character is a bank robber. Bank robbers are generally bad. However, the scenes with his daughter show his tenderness, and might almost cause you to believe him when he says he does what he does to get by. Of course, he says this while driving around in a luxury sports car and apparently having no real job. Am I supposed to cheer for him? Meanwhile Li frequently stands around and says nothing while showing off his "What have I done to deserve this?" face. I knew Li was going to win, so I must have looked as bored as he did.Of course, I'm only in it for the action. 'Cradle 2 the Grave' promises a Jet Li vs. Mark Dacascos showdown. Two of the current greats of kung-fu movies, and when they finally duke it out, they only produce a scene that is above average when compared to the rest of the film. Li's cage fight is entertaining too, but the rest of the film lacked enough cool kung-fu to keep me interested. Kelly Hu put on some OK fights, Li and Dacascos were not as impressive as they should be, and there was a lot of DMX kung-fu. 'Nuff said.'Cradle 2 the Grave' is little more than another of Li's unimpressive American films. The French 'Kiss of the Dragon' was awesome, and 'Unleashed' hasn't opened in Australia yet. It better do so soon. As for 'Cradle 2 the Grave', it may be worth at least one look for Li or Dacascos fans 5/10
Good movie.
posted on 05 Feb 2009I would have to say the highlight as with all Jet Li movies were his stunt sequences. The movie overall was a good action flick, but not begging to be seen again. I was pleased and definitely did not waste my money, but it is not beckoning me back to the theatres tonight to see it. Good job though, DMX is definitely one of the best music artists turned actors.
Dumb, stupid, lame, bad and only worth seeing for End Credits !
posted on 30 Aug 2009Okay, so Jet Li is always at the top of his game. He has a list of good films under his belt ( Once Upon a Time in China series, Black Mask, Hit-man, Legend of the Swordsman, The Bodyguard from Beijing, Lethal Weapon 4, Hero, Danny the Dog, Born to Defence, Fearless, Fong-Sai Yuk, High Risk ) and some real stinkers ( My Father is a Hero, Doctor Wai & the Scripture w/ No Words, The Master, The One, Romeo Must Die, Kiss of the Dragon ).Rapper-Actor DMX is once again his co-star ( he had a brief role in "Romeo" ) and doesn't speak that much, but when he does it is often some 'ghetto' speech and/or expletive that isn't funny nor is it meaningful to the script in any way. Fromer Cinematographer/Director Andrez Bartoziak ( he directed the lame "Romeo" ) inserts anything gratuitous that he can find. This ranges from a sexy striptease by Gabriel Union to extra blood. The plot is almost non- existent and you just might forget what it's supposed to be about if you go to sleep out of boredom. Rap and Pop music is churned out now and then, but it has no meaning in this movie. Mark Dascascos is given hardly any character development; Kelly Hu ( The Scorpion King ) is just a bad-girl who's bad for no reason and ends up in a girl fight just because she can. Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson are literally the only saving graces in this entire film due to their delicate sense of humor and timing, but they have no real place in the story either besides helping our unlikeable heroes help defeat their enemies with a tank ( Where'd they get a tank?) and near the end of the movie, after Jet Li defeats Dascoscos in a unrealistic "boss fight" w/ some nuclear crystal thing ( ? ), Arnold & Anderson comment on how they should get the the entire cast and film crew together to make a film where they are the stars and then they comment on what the film should have really been like ! It's like they intentionally made a bad film on purpose, even though this wasn't going to make as much money as BAD BOYS II or THE MATRIX RELOADED/REVOLUTIONS. So in the end, it's like this film was trying to be a parody of itself and other Action/Adventure movies, but didn't really convey it's message ( which there is none to be found ) really well. It's just passable and if you want to see the end credits for free, then you can just go to online to "YouTubeDotCom." Also, this director made other bad movies like "Exit Wounds" and "Doom." Avoid him in the future if you want quality !