 The Jet Li-DMX movie Cradle 2 the Grave, another hip-hop-meets-martial-arts affair, is receiving a mixed reception from critics. Gene Seymour in Newsday sums up the movie this way: "The usual bang, boom, crunch and screech, though maybe a little more stylishly executed than most." Chris Kaltenbach in the Baltimore Sun asks in the first sentence of his review: "What can be said about a movie in which Tom Arnold is responsible for most of the highlights?" Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times complains that the film seems to be "on autopilot and overdrive at the same time: It does nothing original, but does it very rapidly." Stephen Holden in the New York Times observes that despite the horror-movie title, what the movie amounts to is a "prequel to a video game." That's all right by Janice Page of the Boston Globe, "This is a ride, a video game, a soundtrack -- unapologetic and clearly labeled as such. ... Unrealistic? Totally off the hook? Isn't that Y U came?" Peter Howell in the Toronto Star writes similarly: "Cradle 2 the Grave is 2 ridiculous 2 B believed. And that's perfectly okay. While it would be nice to think that a Taiwanese cop and American gangstas could join forces to save the world from nuclear diamonds and insane criminals ... it isn't necessary for the enjoyment of this mid-winter rouser to ponder issues of plot and logic." Chris Vognar in the Dallas Morning News suggests that the movie ought to be taken for what it is -- less of a film production than a marketing project: "And if Jet Li, DMX, Tom Arnold, the arms dealers, the hip-hop, the chase scenes, the cat fight, the quad race and the fear of weapons-grade plutonium don't do it for you, then maybe you slipped through a marketing loophole." |
