# Cradle 2 the Grave

Cradle 2 the Grave is a 2003 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak. It stars Jet Li and DMX. The film follows the story of Tony Fait (DMX), a skilled jewel thief who finds himself entangled in a dangerous situation when a heist goes wrong. During a robbery, Tony inadvertently steals a cache of black diamonds sought after by a ruthless crime lord named Ling (Mark Dacascos). To retrieve the diamonds, Ling kidnaps Tony’s daughter, compelling him to team up with a Taiwanese intelligence officer named Su (Jet Li). Together, Tony and Su navigate the underworld of Los Angeles, facing off against formidable adversaries and executing daring heists to rescue Tony’s daughter and thwart Ling’s nefarious plans. The film was released in the United States on February 28, 2003. Despite receiving generally negative critic reviews, it grossed $56 million worldwide, making it a modest success.

## Plot

Anthony Fait and his crew of thieves attempt to steal diamonds for a Frenchman named Christophe, who serves as the middleman for a mysterious employer. When Fait contacts Christophe, a Taiwanese intelligence agent named Su intercepts the conversation and attempts to identify the criminals.
While the crew gathers up as many diamonds as they can, including a bag of black diamonds, Agent Su calls Fait and demands that he and his crew leave the diamonds in the vault, warning him that the police are on the way. However, Fait ignores this warning, and the criminals attempt a daring escape past a SWAT team blockade. While Fait, and his crew members Daria and Tommy, all manage to escape, Agent Su captures Miles and recovers Miles' share of the diamonds. Su is disappointed to find that Miles does not have the black diamonds though. Meanwhile, Fait asks his friend Archie to appraise the black diamonds he had stolen. Arriving at the San Francisco International Airport, Christophe's mysterious employer, Ling, is informed by his assistant Sona, that Christophe has been attacked and that Fait and his gang have taken the black diamonds.
Later that night, Fait runs into Su. During this inadvertent meeting, Fait receives a phone call from Ling, who demands that Fait hand over the black diamonds. Fait refuses and is subsequently attacked by two of Ling's henchman. With Su's help, he defeats them and escapes. After the fight, Archie tells Fait that some gangsters came to his workshop and demanded the black diamonds as well. After some hesitation, Archie admits that he gave the stones to the gangsters to spare his own life. Fait also receives another call from Ling, who has kidnapped Fait's daughter, Vanessa, to persuade Fait to give up the diamonds. Now with a common enemy, Fait and Su team up to recover the diamonds from the gangsters and rescue Vanessa from Ling.
Fait visits jailed crime lord "Jump" Chambers, most likely the employer of the gangsters who had robbed Archie. When Chambers refuses to cooperate, Fait goes to Chambers' night club, hoping to find the stones somewhere in his office. The plan goes awry, and Fait and the gang have to leave empty-handed. Meanwhile, Su and Archie go to an underground club to try to find the gangsters who attacked Archie. Because the club does not allow guests, Su is forced to enter as a fighter in the club's fighting ring. During Su's fight, Archie sees the man they are looking for, recognizing the man's ring. Through this informant, they learn that the diamonds are hidden in the bubble bath in Chamber's office. When they return to the nightclub to retrieve the diamonds, they find that Ling's men have already taken the stones. Meanwhile, while locked in a van, Vanessa, who has been bound and gagged with duct tape frees herself, and finds a cell phone to call her father. Just before the phone's battery runs out, Vanessa gives some clues as to her location. With these clues, the gang surmises that Vanessa is being held in an airport hangar.
Realizing that Ling will want to auction off the stones, which are actually weapons of mass destruction, the group searches flight schedules to find an airport where a large number of private flights will be landing that night. Finding the right airport, the group races to the hangar. While driving to the hanger Fait learns from Su that he and Ling are former childhood best friends, that they both joined the government at the same time but Ling's thirst for money and power led him to take out they're entire task team but Su managed to escape. The group arrives at wick airfield, where Ling's auction is already starting. A fight ensues, and Fait and his crew take out members of Ling's team, while Su battles Ling in a one on one fight. Eventually, Vanessa is rescued and Ling is killed after Su forces him to swallow a capsule of synthetic plutonium and then breaks the capsule lodged in his neck. When the police arrive, Fait promises to end his criminal career in order to lead a safe and happy life with Vanessa.

## Cast

* Jet Li as Su Duncan
* DMX as Anthony Fait
* Gabrielle Union as Daria
* Mark Dacascos as Ling
* Kelly Hu as Sona
* Melvin Smalls as Miles
* Anthony Anderson as Tommy
* Tom Arnold as Archie
* Paige Hurd as Vanessa Fait
* Paolo Seganti as Christophe
* Michael Jace as Odion
* Ron Yuan as Laser Tech
* Chi McBride as "Jump" Chambers
* Sean Cory as Willy "Chickens"
* Lester Speight as Chamber's Club Doorman
* Randy Couture as Fight Club Fighter #8
* Martin Klebba as Fight Club Announcer
* Woon Young Park as Bald Enforcer
* Johnny Trí Nguyễn as Ling's Hitman #1
* Marcus Young as Ling's Hitman #2
* Doug Spearman as African Arms Dealer
* Hani Naimi as Egyptian Arms Dealer
* Julie du Page as French Arms Dealer
* Hari Dhillon as Pakistani Arms Dealer
* Peter J. Lucas as Russian Arms Dealer
* Tito Ortiz as Cage Fighter
* Héctor Echavarría as Cage Fighter
* Chuck Liddell as Cage Fighter
* Arnold Chon as Cage Fighter
* Garrett Warren as Cage Fighter
* Larry Joshua as Cop In Vault
* William L. Johnson as Black Diamond Carrier Armored Driver (uncredited)
* Kevin Grevioux as Prison Guard (uncredited)
* Nikki Martin as Ring Girl #1 (uncredited)
* Ungenita Prevost as Ring Girl #2 (uncredited)
* Natasha Yi as Club Girl (uncredited)
Daniel Dae Kim also appears, consult as the Visiting Expert. The film reunites actors Jet Li, Earl Simmons and Anthony Anderson with Polish film director Andrzej Bartkowiak, after they first worked together in the 2000 film Romeo Must Die, and alongside Melvin Smalls and Tom Arnold in the 2001 film Exit Wounds. Mark Dacascos, Paige Hurd, Chi McBride and Daniel Dae Kim would then all go on to star in the reboot of Hawaii Five-0.

## Production
### Filming

Filming began on March 11, 2002 and ended in the summer of that year, taking place in various areas of Los Angeles, California. The freestyle fight in which Su faces 15 combatants in a cage covered by a cyclone fence and surrounded by an angry and bloodthirsty crowd, took 10 days to film.

## Reception

The movie received generally negative reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 27% approval rating based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's consensus reads, "Dumb and by-the-numbers, but serviceable." Metacritic gives the film a rating of 36 out of 100, based on 26 reviews.

## Box office

The film debuted at number one at the North American box office, grossing $16,521,468 in its opening weekend. However, this accounted for a hefty 47.6% of its total $34,712,347 gross. The film's worldwide gross stands at $56,489,558, making the film a modest success.

## Soundtrack

| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Year | Album | U.S. | U.S. R&B | Certifications |
| 2003 | Cradle 2 the Grave Released: February 18, 2003 Label: Def Jam | 6 | 3 | RIAA: Gold MC: Gold |