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Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Cradle 2 the Grave

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
John O'Brien (also story)
Channing Gibson
Reggie Rock Bythewood (story)
Directed by: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 28, 2003
DVD: August 12, 2003
Running Time: 100 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for violence, language and some sexual content
Starring Jet Li, DMX, Mark Dacascos, Anthony Anderson, Kelly Hu, Gabrielle Union, and Tom Arnold
America's gritty hip-hop ethos collides with the poetic intensity of Hong Kong cinema in the action thriller Cradle 2 the Grave, an explosive fusion of Eastern martial arts and Western street culture. (Warner Bros.)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Doom Exit Wounds Romeo Must Die
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Boston Globe Janice Page
This is a ride, a video game, a soundtrack -- unapologetic and clearly labeled as such. It has no middle speed.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Kevin Carr
The biggest strength of Cradle 2 the Grave is that it doesnt take itself too seriously.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown
By the time Li enters the obligatory ''ring of fire'' to face his final opponent, you realize just how forthrightly rote and businesslike ''Cradle'' is. And you don't mind. Because business, it turns out, is good.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
When you pay good money to see an action movie, it's understood that you want it to be action-packed. You do not want it to be action-enhanced or action-flavoured or featuring accents of action.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Martial arts hero Jet Li takes on all comers--with one hand in his hip pocket most of the time--in this absurd but breathlessly paced actioner.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
Ultimately, it's the hip cast that keeps things hopping.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
Choreographed by long-term Li collaborator Corey Yuen, the martial arts confrontations supply plenty of spark, though they lack the more exhilarating stylistic flourishes of those in "Romeo."
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Cary Darling
Cradle boasts a couple of bravura fight and chase scenes but they're stranded amid the predictable and the pedestrian.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ellen A. Kim
Even throwing in a spunky fight between female sidekicks (Gabrielle Union and Kelly Hu) isn't enough to float this film over clumsy dialogue and the feeling we've seen it before.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The film itself is on autopilot and overdrive at the same time: It does nothing original, but does it very rapidly.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle C.W. Nevius
Between the off-center comic riffs of Tom Arnold and the wildly improbable hair's-breadth escapes, the whole business dissolves into amiable action farce.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson become an official comedy duo as they deliver an extraneous (and questionably funny) comedy riff, as they did in "Exit Wounds" over the films closing credits.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Would be a perfectly decent B-action movie if it weren't shipwrecked in the last act by laughably ridiculous plotting and a lazily executed climax.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Each actor does his own thing for his own audience demographic.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
I also wondered how the movie got the title Cradle 2 the Grave. Nobody used the phrase; it didn't apply to any characters; it didn't even turn up in a song. Maybe the filmmakers were saving "Rotten 2 the Core" for the sequel.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
It's saying something when Tom Arnold's performance is among the movie's highlights.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
A secondhand action movie that retreads all the tired staples of the 1980s and '90s.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
With so little trust and even less dialogue to back him up, it's no wonder Li rarely takes his left hand out of his pants pocket. His fists aren't furious; they're on strike.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
The cinematographer-turned-director likes his MTV-style editing so much that in his drive for hyperkinetic overkill he sacrifices coherence to wallow in barely contained chaos.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Overall the tone is dark and nasty, exemplified by the inelegant signature kung-fu move of the good guys -- a backward kick to the groin.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jon Caramanica
Li barely has enough lines to qualify for a SAG card.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Its creepy use of DMX's daughter is reprehensible, but the film is otherwise so unrelentingly sleazy that its use of the child-in-danger gambit actually qualifies as one of its subtler moves.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
Replete with audience-insulting writing and blatantly hateful jokes, storytelling like this makes most video game plots look like "Moby Dick."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
sammy J gave it a10:
OMG, disfilm iz wicked, fight scenes pure amazing, stroy line, not so good, 1 scene will blow you away, THE QUADBIKE scene for me iz purely sensational, best film ever, you have to see this!!!!!
Domicron gave it a 0:
Wow this movie was awful. Now don't get me wrong, I like action movies as much as the next guy but come on, what was the deal here? Weak story, weak dialogue, and no, DMX cannot act. Even the action sequences were over-the-top and lame.
Calbo R. gave it a 9:
Bitchin!
Dinu F. gave it a 2:
2 points for: 1. able to get the funds 2. getting a movie together. the targeted audience is around 8 years old. while "romeo must die" was at the limit of ridicularity with some good points and at least a nice story, this movie doesnt fits together. the story is really dumb, the actors play extremly bad, and all together so ridiculous like on some kids-program. movie to skip. disc: english isnt my main language.
Carsten K. gave it a 7:
Nice soundtrack and special effects. The story therefore is rather slim and too fictional at times.
John Y. gave it a 5:
In a nutshell: Jump, kick, punch, ouch, guns, knives, diamonds, thieves, DMX, pow, whack, slam, blood, fire, Jet Li, cars, villains, Asians, wrestling, explosions, bang, boom, kaboom ... and you were expecting drama? Not horrible, but with "Matrix Reloaded" less than three months away, please save your money. Oh, it had Gabrielle Union too.
Mike L. gave it a 10:
It's PIMP!!!!
