Cradle 2 the Grave
No, the movie doesn't have any cradles or graves to speak of. Instead, childish behavior and deadly cliches are prominent in this one starring DMX and Jet Li. DMX plays Tony Fait, a hard-working jewel thief just trying to make a living in order to bring up a daughter into the world. He takes up a diamond heist to steal some black stones, the next wave in transporting nuclear energy. But soon, he's in way over his head when two Asian fellows come after him for them and a crime boss takes posession of them. One of those Asian fellows is Jet Li himself as Su, a Taiwanese intelligence officer. The other is Su's colleague, Ling, now defected from Taiwan and in the business of makin' a few dollars off nuclear material. In a twist of fate, Ling kidnaps Tony's daughter, making this a personal mission that Tony and his buddies embark on.

See, not much story to speak of, and that's the problem. Once the basic plotline is set up, the director, Andrzej Bartkowiak of Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds fame, goes out of his way to set his characters up in the most ridiculous of situations and let them fight their way out of it. Ooo, Jet Li just happens to stumble upon an extreme fighting ring. Watch the blood fly! Speaking of him, Li doesn't really put in much of an effort here. It seems as though he always throws one punch or kicks once, pauses for like 5 seconds as his opponent studders and gets back up and then repeats. All of these things set up the final battle as the airport hangar where the individuals in the group fight their counterparts on the other side, with Su and Ling fighting in the ring of fire. Yes, Jet Li gets to fight again surrounded by fire, as in Romeo Must Die, but at least in this one, the fire looks so much more real. Even with all of its problems, this turned out to be a better experience than Daredevil was. 2 stars