Movie Review: “Cradle 2 the Grave”

Release Date: February 28, 2003

Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures/Silver Pictures

Review of “Romeo Must Die”

Review of “Exit Wounds”

Here I am in the last part of covering the films of this unofficial trilogy. While I am not done completely with this series, even though I am having different ideas for the soundtrack album reviews, I know that for this film, there was no way I wasn’t going to cover it. After all, this, along with “Romeo Must Die” and “Exit Wounds,” all have a connection with one another.

As noted in my write-up of “Exit Wounds,” there is so much in common with these three films that they pretty much are a trilogy despite having no ties to each other, story-wise (but could they exist in the same world? Hmmmmm). I had said that it’s the same production company as Joel Silver produced them, same director (Andrzej Bartowiak), same theme, and I even mentioned timeframes from when they were released as RMD and EW were released in March of their respective years and this one was released at the end of February in 2003. However, some differences were that this came out two years after “Exit Wounds,” only a certain amount of actors returned, and this one was actually shot in the United States, in Los Angeles, California, at that. So it wasn’t shot in Canada like the other two were. As for it being like a trilogy, well, you could say the same about those British comedies dubbed “The Three Flavors Cornetto,” like “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “The World’s End.”

Also, unlike the other two, this wasn’t an adaptation of any sort. The plot this time around involved a crew of jewel thieves led by Anthony Fait (DMX), whose crew consisted of Tommy (Anthony Anderson), Daria (Gabrielle Union), and Miles (Drag-On). In fact, the film starts with the crew going on a diamond heist where they had an elaborate scheme to break into a depository where the diamonds were held. Of course, there was some humor added to the scene because Daria tried to use her allure to distract a security guard, only to find that he was gay and used Tommy to flirt with the man so that the crew can do their job. Of course, Jet Li portrayed Su, a Taiwanese intelligence agent, is only after some diamonds that the crew stole, which means that the diamonds are an important plot device, in relation to the villain, Ling, portrayed by martial arts actor Mark Dacascos.

I’m just going to say it. There is really nothing realistic about this film. I know I talked about some of the fight choreography and wire work in the other two films, but in regards to the plot, there is a lot of craziness in this film. Tom Arnold returned, probably because Joel Silver thought he delivered in “Exit Wounds” and this film needed some extra comic relief even though Anthony Anderson was in it. However, instead of portraying a local TV show host, he is an illegal goods/arms dealer. Oh…kay. Not sure what to think of that, but for the most part, he is kind of an informant to the main characters. Oh, and DMX’s character has a daughter whom he cares so deeply about, and the scenes with those two, they felt so wholesome and sweet. Nothing wrong with that.

I also noticed that Drag-On was cast in this film. For those who may not know or remember Drag-On, he was a part of Ruff Ryders, along with DMX. In fact, I remember those two were close (I still remember seeing his IG live video where he grieved DMX; it was really sad). Also, he had a small role in “Exit Wounds” but here, he is a member of the crew and had more of a role. He isn’t given a lot to do except be in a couple of fight scenes. Probably because of his limitations as an actor. Not that it’s important, but I also have both of his albums.

I can get into more of the story, but given how bonkers it is, I’ll save more of this for later. I will just talk about the action scenes first.

SPOILER ALERT (But should anybody care about spoilers for a 20-year-old movie?)

Seeing the other films of this unofficial trilogy, I already knew what to expect in terms of style. One thing that I wondered is when DMX did a little parkour, was he using a wire? That’s what I wondered. I even tried to freeze-frame to see if it was a stunt double but it seemed like it wasn’t. However, I must talk about these scenes, especially with the cuts in between, whether it’s doing the chase or the fight scene. In fact, I could talk about that specific point midway through the film, because in one part, you had some comedy with Anthony Anderson trying to BS his way to set something up by posing as an exterminator, then you had Gabrielle Union do a striptease (I guess this film needed a little fanservice, huh?), all the while DMX and Drag-On try to break into an office. Then came what happened after…

I must say that this chase is well shot and well edited. I also liked the stunt work that was done from the jumps in between buildings. Also, some of the wide-angle shots worked when giving a scenic view of the surroundings and then cutting to closeups of DMX on the ATV.

Of course, there was no way I wasn’t going to talk about this scene…

I remember there was an extra on the DVD that talked about shooting this scene. I haven’t watched it in a while but I will say that this scene was so crazy that it actually worked. You could talk about the sound effects used for the attacks, some of the added humor, and the wire-work for when some of the fighters got launched (because what other word could I use to describe what happened here?). It was also interesting to see Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and Randy Couture in this scene, as they have become true legends in mixed martial arts by this point.

I also have to talk about the big climax. So it was revealed what those special diamonds were all about. They have some kind of power for plutonium, which kind of came out left field at that point. They were going to get auctioned off to some international dealers for some reason. Oh, and did I mention that DMX’s character’s daughter was kidnapped and held hostage? I knew I forgot to mention something, but with this being the climax, a lot of things had to unfold and resolve at the end. So we are treated to what the TV Tropes website calls a “Designated Girl Fight” between Gabrielle Union and Kelly Hu, who was in the film as Mark Dacasco’s character’s lover but had little to do with the plot (She was probably brought in because of her martial arts prowess). DMX had a fight with some unnamed henchman, and of course, a fight between Jet Li and Mark Dacascos. But of course, it wasn’t without other members of the team getting involved, like Drag-On sniping people and the two comic relief characters coming in with a tank (I kid you not).

But to give the fight between the two martial arts veterans an epic feel, there had to be a ring of fire and water spraying all over the place. The ring of fire bit had to have been a callback to “Romeo Must Die,” but the water spraying all over the place had to be because sometimes a fight scene can occur in the rain, so that had to make do, or at least give it that feel.

What I found funny was that each of the battles had ended in a gruesome or brutal fashion, and/or with a one-liner. For the girl fight, how it ended was that Kelly Hu had an Uzi in hand but Gabrielle Union grabbed her hand to point towards Hu and pressed on her finger so that she could shoot herself in the gut. However, that has nothing on what Jet Li did to Mark Dacascos when he grabbed some kind of canister and shoved it down his mouth so it could go down and you see him burn from the inside. Probably the most gruesome death scene I had seen throughout these three films.

I know I talked about how ridiculous this movie is. Let me recount a bit. RMD and EW were over-the-top, yes, but given the whole Matrix influence on the action, both films had their own versions of how over-the-top they were. RMD incorporated that odd CGI X-ray effect in some fight scenes. EW was really not much different from seeing any other cowboy cop action flick but also had some slow motion effects and wire work. This film, while it had some elements from the other two films (except for the X-ray effects), it kind of ramped up the craziness with its plot elements and action. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the film. I mean I enjoyed it when I saw it at the age of 17. I still enjoy it now. To call it good would be a stretch, though.

Overall, I guess maybe it’s because I enjoy ridiculous action to laugh at, maybe it’s a sense of nostalgia (I didn’t see it in theaters; I rented it when I first saw it), maybe it’s the whole theme. I could also be biased because I liked the soundtrack, and I will admit that I bought the soundtrack before seeing the movie. For some reason, though, I can’t help but like this film.