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Cradle 2 the Grave
Warner Bros.


7.0

based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA 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.)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	John O'Brien (also story) Channing Gibson Reggie Rock Bythewood (story)
DIRECTED BY:	Andrzej Bartkowiak
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: August 12, 2003 Video: August 12, 2003 Theatrical: February 28, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	100 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

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.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

The biggest strength of Cradle 2 the Grave is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

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.

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.

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.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Ultimately, it's the hip cast that keeps things hopping.

LA Weekly John Patterson

Relentless, infantile and impossible to dislike.

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."

Miami Herald Cary Darling

Cradle boasts a couple of bravura fight and chase scenes but they're stranded amid the predictable and the pedestrian.

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.

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.

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.

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 film’s closing credits.

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.

USA Today Mike Clark

Each actor does his own thing for his own audience demographic.

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.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

A violent, dumb, offensive mess.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

It's saying something when Tom Arnold's performance is among the movie's highlights.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A secondhand action movie that retreads all the tired staples of the 1980s and '90s.

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.

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.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Soulless, sleekly executed product.

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.

Village Voice Jon Caramanica

Li barely has enough lines to qualify for a SAG card.

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.

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."

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!!!!

Cradle 2 the Grave Warner Bros.

Cradle 2 the Grave
Warner Bros.