Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)

A jewel thief's daughter is kidnapped after he steals a collection of prized black diamonds, which aren't at all what they seem.

Director:

Andrzej Bartkowiak

Writers:

John O'Brien (story), John O'Brien (screenplay)

Stars:

Jet Li, DMX, Mark Dacascos

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jet Li	...	Su
DMX	...	Anthony Fait
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

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

tied up | bound and gagged | private dancer | panties | one man army | 

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Taglines:

Kanteihyôka, 100 karat no kyôki [Japan]

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin Korean

Release Date:

28 February 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Born 2 Die

Filming Locations:

101 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,521,486, 2 March 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$34,604,054, 11 May 2003

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$56,489,558

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the cage-fighting scene, Tito Ortiz is shown as the victor in a fight between himself and Chuck Liddell. In reality, the two have fought two times in the UFC, with Chuck winning both fights.

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Goofs

During the planning scene when Fait is giving out assignments he calls Daria "Gabrielle." She is played by Gabrielle Union.

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Quotes

Fait: You read Chinese?
Archie: No, but I know "cop" in every language.

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Crazy Credits

Archie and Tommy riff on various subjects, including who will star in the movie version of their lives, under the end credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Soundtracks

That's Amore
Written by Jack Brooks and Harry Warren
Performed by Ferrante
Courtesy of Laserlight Digital
By Arrangement with Source/Q

User Reviews

Substance 2 The Grave.

"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.