Film Reviews

Cradle 2 The Grave

• Rating:
• Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak
• Starring: Anthony Anderson
• Details: US / 100 mins / (18).

With a narrative almost as erratic and uneven as its star's command of the English language, Cradle 2 The Grave is yet another one of those generic Jet Li vehicles where he gets into lots of fights but emerges - after almost two hours of bruising encounters - with barely a hair out of place. This time around Li plays Su, a Taiwanese secret agent despatched to recover some stolen black diamonds. The stones have been nicked by a gang of bling-bling thieves, headed up by the charisma-free Fait (DMX). Just to complicate matters, a group of international ne'er-to-do-wells led by Ling (Dacascos) enter the equation, intent on getting their grubby mitts on the diamonds, which, in actual fact, are plutonium pellets with potentially deadly capabilities. So when Ling's people kidnap Fait's nine-year-old daughter, the Taiwanese secret agent and the criminal must team up to save the day. Yawn.
Taking itself far too seriously, Cradle 2 The Grave boasts a couple of adequately choreographed fight sequences, but that's about the extent of invention in this preposterous action thriller. Jet Li seems to churn out these types of movies on an annual basis and one would suspect that even he's getting tired of it at this stage. And just in case you're still tempted to see Cradle 2 The Grave, here's a final warning: Tom Arnold features in a supporting role.

Review by Garreth Murphy