Kelly Hu Movie:

Editorial Review:
The intriguing cross-pollination of rap and kung-fu continues with Cradle 2 the Grave, co-starring high-profile rapper DMX and Hong Kong superstar Jet Li. Master thief Fait (DMX) hits a diamond exhange but comes away with a bag of black gems of mysterious origin. When a crime kingpin steals the gems from Fait, an international arms dealer kidnaps Fait's beloved daughter--and Fait can only get her back with the help of Su (Li), a Taiwanese intelligence agent tracking the gems himself. A summary of the plot doesn't do Cradle 2 the Grave justice; while the basic story elements suggest a dozen generic action flicks, the cast (including Anthony Anderson, Gabrielle Union, and Kelly Hu) has genuine charisma and the movie layers action on top of action to strong effect. All in all, a much more engaging thrill ride than you'd expect. --Bret Fetzer

Cradle 2 the Grave [Region 2] Reviews:
Get Your Hand Out Of Your Pocket Jet
2009-10-15 - DMX stars as a thief who has just robbed a bank of a shipment of precious black diamonds. Jet Li is the Taiwanese cop hellbent on getting the stones back since they not only belong to Taiwan, but can also be used to create a deadly weapon. Mark Dacascos is the bad guy who plans on using the stones to create that deadly weapon and sell it to the highest bidder. The film isn't hard to follow. This is the third martial arts/hip-hop hybrid from director Andrezj Bartkowiak following 'Romeo Must Die' and 'Exit Wounds'. I preferred 'Exit Wounds' since Steven Seagal was a lot of fun in the main role. He seemed to be having a good time cracking jokes and bones. Here Jet Li barely talks, never smiles and keeps his left hand in his pocket during EVERY fight scene. This was really annoying. The fight scenes weren't that exciting either with the exception of Li facing UFC fighters Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz in a steel cage. It's a good opportunity for DMX to further try his hand at acting. Like his rapping he lets his gruff voice do the work. Back again are Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson as comic relief. Even though their roles are smaller than in the previous film they do a lot with a little. Kelly Hu and Gabrielle Union are the eye candy who get to show off their kickboxing skills in a climactic fight. Even though the film is action packed one of the distracting things is that Bartkowiak stages three fights at a time and interrupts one to go back to another. I wish he'd have stayed on one till it reached the end before moving forward. Dacascos is a good villain and his and Jet's fight to the death in a ring of fire in the pouring rain was exciting if not reminiscent of the final fight in 'Romeo Must Die'. The funniest part in the film is that of Chi McBride as a Suge Knight type gangsta who enjoys the really good life in prison. Just make sure to get him his butter and watch out for his lobster. It's a satisfying enough action picture since it delivers the goods but another failed American effort from Li.

OK
2009-06-26 - A fairly high budget action flick. Not entirely unwatchable. The problem is Jet Li and DMX. I don't see why Jet Li is popular. He's not attractive, he's tiny, his English is horrible, and he probably could not jump 2 feet off the ground without wires! He's the king of wires!! At least Jackie Chan did his own stunts. But Jet Li would not look impressive at all without wires. And even with them, he's just average. So I don't get his appeal at all. As for DMX, he's also a little guy. Under 5'7". Some sites online say he's 5'11". Rubbish. Just ask Kat Williams, who says DMX is about his height. And Kat Williams must be all of 5'3" tall. DMX has a tough voice... that's about it. Anyway, I just don't get the appeal of little guys who act tough. Vin, Stallone, Chan, Eastwood, you got the feeling they could really do damage if they wanted to. But Jet LI and DMX? Please, unless they are fighting an Oompa-Loompa, I'm just not buying it.

Li's Disappointment, DMX's Blunder, Bartkowiak's Failure
2009-04-03 - Too much hip-hop and not enough action - that's my consensus when it comes to the third installment of director Andrej Bartkowiak's martial arts trilogy. What began as Jet Li's first American solo vehicle and spawned a remarkably good Steven Seagal adventure has turned into a film where DMX is supposed to be the top star but needs constant rescuing from a man who's lucky to have a dozen lines throughout the script (Li). With the exception of the soundtrack, everywhere you look - the action department, the humor section, and even the poorly-anticipated acting level - the film falls short, and leaves me unsurprised that Bartkowiak's following couple of films were the flops that they were.

The storyline follows a quartet of thieves - played by DMX, Gabrielle Union ("Bad Boys II"), Anthony Anderson ("The Departed"), and Drag-On (Exit Wounds) - who come to realize that their recent jewel heist was not the easy money-maker that they thought it was: when Anthony Fait's (DMX) daughter is kidnapped by a vicious arms-dealer (Mark Dacascos, Brotherhood of the Wolf) seeking the return of his stolen black diamonds, the group is approached by a Taiwanese intelligence officer (Li) who's more than aware of how dangerous both the dealer and his jewels really are.

For starters, the significance of the diamonds is complete and utter nonsense, even from an action fan who thought the heroin-soaked t-shirts of "Exit Wounds" were cool. In addition, the comic relief of the returning Tom Arnold ("Exit Wounds") is overdone to an excruciating extent: what began as a white man acting silly in a black man's world has turned into me wondering who the heck would even talk the way he does, much less pull some of his idiotic physical stunts. Seriously, he's starting to come across as mentally challenged.
Then again, alongside DMX, most anybody looks passable: I really do not see the rapper as an actor, and this push to the top of the cast list came way too early for him. His younger co-star Drag-On has already passed him on the dramatic scale, and he looks positively bland next to Gabrielle Union and Anthony Anderson. Li has next to nothing to do as far as acting goes - a shame, considering his character in Romeo Must Die - but even he does a better job than better than Mark Dacascos, who is one of my favorite martial artists but should not have been made a villain - at least not a starring one.

The action ought to be good in the layman's book, but comes across as deficient when considering the content of "Romeo" and "Exit Wounds". There are approximately two chase scenes and five hand-to-hand showdowns. One of the chases is old-hat, but the other features DMX on a quad and ends up in a stairwell, so that's cool. The martial arts showdowns can be grouped into the good Jet Li vs. cage fighters scene (featuring Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, and Chuck Liddell), the halfway-decent Li & DMX vs. two henchmen (featuring Johnny Nguyen, The Rebel) and Li vs. Dacascos showdowns, and the rather silly Gabrielle Union vs. Kelly Hu ("X2") and DMX vs. Woon Young Park (Dragon Storm) encounters. Largely the only reason I bought the movie was to watch Li and Dacascos go at it, but all their fight is is a one-sided beat-up-the-Hawaiian that's much slower than what I've come to expect from a Jet Li brawl. As a whole, the fighting scenes feature less (or less-apparent) wirework than Bartkowiak's previous installments, but are far from choreographer Corey Yuen's best work.

I'm not sure if this is the result of Bartkowiak taking his work too seriously or him just losing his nerve for the whole kung fu/hip-hop thing, but in the end, all that matters is that "Cradle 2 the Grave" is not up to par when it comes to the director's previous two films. Fans of them, however, probably won't be able to help themselves from giving this a watch, but folks who are just curious for good action need to look somewhere else.

Better than I expected
2008-05-15 - I didnt have high expectations for this movie because the trailer made it seem like your run-of-the-mill action flick. I was able to see it a couple days ago and was pleasantly surprised.

Premise: Fait(DMX), a diamond thief plans an elaborate heist and steal what seems like black diamonds. A former CIA agent kidnaps Fait's daughter in exchange for the diamonds which are really plutonium devices used for war weapons. Fait teams up with Su(Jet Li), a hard-nosed Taiwanese intelligence agent to get his daughter back.

Opinion: The script is decent but I had to penalize it for a couple of things. The movie could do without Anthony Henderson playing a sissy to distract a front desk security officer(doesnt anybody get sick and tired of these black comics playing effeminate roles in movies?),DMX doing stunts on a quad is unbelievable and does Drag-On have to be in very movie involving DMX? Other than that this movie is not that bad. The action scenes are plentiful and contrary to popular belief DMX's acting is better here than he was in Belly. Jet Li is splendid as Su, the Taiwanees agent. Tom Arnold is kind of funny as the go-to-man for weapons and such. The brutally georgeous Gabrielle Union is okay in this movie but she can do much better. All in all the movie is worth a look

Excllent movie going experience take for what it is
2008-03-26 - A lot of the critics have been complaining about Cradle 2 The Grave they even as far to say it's trash. The main thing the critics are all complaining about is the acting but who is acutally going to this movie for the acting you're going for the action. Jet Li, Anthony Anderson, DMX and director Andrzej Bartkowiak all worked together on Romeo Must Die while DMX,Drag-On Anthony Anderson , Tom Arnold and director Andrzej Bartkowiak all worked on Exit Wounds together.Andrzej Bartkowiak brings together his regulars and adds Gabirelle Union, Kelly Hu and Mark Dacoassas to the mix. The film has cool action sequences, a hot soundtrack and limtied wire work which is common for these types of films.