DVD
Review | Cradle 2 The Grave
Written by: Kage
Alan
It would seem that Hollywood has kidnapped poor
Jet Li along with Chow Yun-Fat. I’m not quite sure who is faring
better at the moment, but Li seems to be getting some more action
oriented roles and why not? He’s good at them! For a guy who’s 5’6”,
I would NOT want to run into him in a dark alley and in a foul mood.
Fortunately, Li has starred in some wonderfully character driven roles
in Hong Kong, especially the popular “Once Upon A time In China”
trilogy. While this may not cement him as an actor’s actor in North
America, “Cradle 2 the Grave” certainly showcases his action
abilities.
Fait (DMX, “Exit Wounds”) is a thief, only he’s a
hip thief. You see, he doesn’t steal from everyday normal people. Oh,
no. He steals from the bad guys; the drug dealers, money launderers
etc. A recent job puts himself and his crack team in danger when they
lift what they think are black diamonds. Is anything ever simple? What
they soon discover is that a Taiwanese policeman named Su (Li) wants
them back, only he’s not the only one. An international crimelord and
ex-associate of Su, Ling (Mark Dacascos, “The Crow: Stairway to
Heaven”), is willing to kill anybody and everybody who gets in the way
of his selling the diamonds/stones to terrorist organizations.
Someone manages to steal the stones from Fait, but
he’s willing to let them go just so he’s no longer a target.
Unfortunately, Ling kidnaps Fait’s daughter and forces an unlikely
alliance between the thief and Su. The two men must then discover who
really has the stones, how they’re going to get them back, save the
little girl and bring Ling to justice. To do that, though, they’ll need
some help and some comic relief; Tommy (Anthony Anderson, “Exit Wounds”)
and Archie (Tom Arnold, “Exit Wounds”). Director Andrzej Barkowiak
(“Exit Wounds”) pulls out the heavy artillery in terms of fighting
sequences and stunts, so put your seat belts on and get ready for a
ride!
If I recall correctly, some critics complained that
Jet Li looked bored in the film. Well, I say that his character was
simply inconvenienced and unimpressed with the people he met, so
naturally he looked bored. Joel Silver produced films aren’t the most
plot-heavy pieces in the world, but you can bet they’re going to have
some damn fine action and this one doesn’t disappoint. I’ll call this
one a guilty pleasure. We need those sometimes and Silver certainly
understands this.
Warner Bros. has released “Cradle 2 the Grave” in
an extremely attractive Widescreen transfer. Colors are very nice,
there’s no grain present in the darker scenes and the whole thing has a
crisp feel to it. Audio is bone crunchingly wonderful! As for extras,
they include several featurettes (“Ultimate Fighting Champions” (8 ½
min), “Choreography of the Camera” (7 ½ min), “The Descender Rig” (3
min)), the DMX Music Video “X Gon’ Give it to Ya”, some cast and crew
info, a theatrical trailer and two hidden featurettes (a (1 ½ min) time
lapse montage of certain sequences being set up and a (2 ¾ min)
behind-the-scenes rear projection sequence). The only thing missing
from this and I was surprised there wasn’t one is an audio commentary.
Still, fun.
In a perfect world, “Cradle 2 the Grave” would have
featured a script with more backstory for the characters to help explain
their motivations. Actions speak louder than words in Hollywood,
though, so the writers jettisoned as much of the story as they could in
favor of making room for some innovate stunt work and fight sequences.
Okay, I can live with that. I just hope that Li returns back home
sometime in the near future and goes back to the films that brought him
popularity overseas in the first place. In the meantime, load up this
guilty pleasure!
Film Rating:
B
DVD Special Features: B-
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