America’s gritty hip-hop ethos collides with the poetic intensity of Hong Kong cinema in the new action thriller Cradle 2 the Grave, an explosive fusion of Eastern martial arts and Western street culture that reunites world champion martial artist and action film star Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, Kiss of the Dragon, Lethal Weapon IV) with platinum-selling hip-hop artist DMX (Exit Wounds, Romeo Must Die), director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Exit Wounds, Romeo Must Die) and renowned producer Joel Silver.
“This new type of hip urban action picture – Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds and now Cradle 2 the Grave – all come from the same aesthetic,” says Joel Silver, producer of The Matrix trilogy, Die Hard and the Lethal Weapon series. “Each one has gone a step further and Cradle is the best yet.”
Written by John O’Brien (Starsky & Hutch) and Channing Gibson (Lethal Weapon IV), Cradle 2 the Grave tells the intricate story of streetwise urban entrepreneur Tony Fait, played by DMX, who clashes with Jet Li’s enigmatic Taiwanese intelligence agent Su over a cache of mysterious black diamonds. “This movie is complicated and not easily summarized,” Silver cautions. “It isn’t a traditional buddy action movie, and it isn’t driven by a clichéd adversarial relationship. Fait and Su are rivals bonded by a mutual enemy, and the story is about how they decide to find the diamonds together and both get what they need.”
In Fait’s case, he needs the stones to exchange for the life of his young daughter Vanessa, who has been kidnapped by Su’s traitorous former partner. “I was able to relate to Fait and the feelings that a parent would have if any harm came to his child,” says DMX, the father of three boys. “I wanted to bring all of those emotions to the character – the anger, the hopelessness, the panic.”
Taking care of business as the passionately poised Fait gave DMX the opportunity to take his acting to the next level with his trusted collaborators, Silver and director Andrzej Bartkowiak. “I enjoy working with Joel and Andrzej,” says X, as he’s known to colleagues and crew. “They encourage me to just be me.”
“X is a natural,” Silver notes. “He’s incredibly charismatic, he was fantastic in Exit Wounds and he’s evolved into a wonderful actor.”
Like Fait, Su projects a controlled but palpable strength and resolve. “Su’s only focus is his job,” Li says. “He doesn’t care about people. He only cares about getting his job done and stopping the bad guy – in this case, Ling, who betrayed him and tried to kill him.”
“Jet is terrific in this movie,” asserts Silver. “He’s very stoic and exudes a tremendous strength, and it’s riveting when he and X are onscreen together. They’re both equally powerful but very different forces to be reckoned with, and when they face off, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
It was through Jet Li that kickboxing champion and martial arts expert Mark Dacascos was cast as Su’s nemesis, the sadistic Ling. “We did a survey through my website,” Li explains. “We asked my fans who they would most like to see me fight on screen, and the overwhelming response was Mark.”
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