andiallan
"the Purifiers" is a movie with practically nothing to recommend it.The direction is sloppy and it never overcomes its low budget. The script is derivative of other more successful films without any understanding of the elements which made the originals successful.Performances are pretty amateurish,with Dominic Monaghan phoning in his performance.Editing is awful.All of these faults could be overlooked if the martial arts were any good but the fight scenes ( which if I recall correctly all take place in slow motion) being ineptly staged and filmed.There are better movies than this in any genre you care to name.Avoid.
misbegotten
'The Purifiers' may be a very low budget film, but it's slick, polished and professional, with a surprising number of overhead crane shots, which can be quite pricey. It was filmed mostly in various Scottish cities, but I also recognised some locations as being in Milton Keynes.The main storyline is an unashamed copy of 'The Warriors', transplanted to an unnamed city in the UK, in a near-future where the overstretched and undermanned police are never seen (although the opening scene has a would-be rapist being left tied up for the authorities to find, with camcorder-filmed evidence of his guilt taped to his mouth). However, this near-lawless future is also set in a fantasy world where hardened criminals and streetwise vigilantes never use guns and only rarely possess knives. Instead, they prefer to beat opponents' faces in with bare fists and well placed kicks.The city has been split up into zones; each vigilante group is responsible for their designated area, and nobody strays from their zone into somebody else's. Our heroes are The Purifiers, a gang led by John (Gordon Alexander), with members that include Frances (Amber Sainsbury) and Li (Rachel Grant). Moses (Kevin McKidd), a former associate of John's who now controls a zone of his own and is running for local office, calls a meeting proposing that the groups unite. This doesn't sit well with John, who believes that some of the other gangs - having run the criminal element out of their respective zones - have filled the resulting vacuums by taking over the drug trade and protection rackets themselves. However, refusing Moses' proposal isn't an option, and The Purifiers find themselves on the run through the city, pursued by the other gangs.The film features a lot of familiar British faces. In addition to 'Hex' actress Sainsbury, 'Sci-Fright' presenter and Bond girl Grant, and McKidd (star of 'Rome' and 'Dog Soldiers'), there's also Dominic Monaghan (from 'Lost' and the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy), plus glamour model Catherine McQueen appears as a member of all-female biker gang The Pumas. The strongest performances are from Sainsbury and McKidd, and the latter's portrayal (together with some powerful dialogue provided by writer/director Richard Jobson) ensures that Moses is more than a typical two-dimensional villain. In his own cynical way, Moses passionately believes in what he's doing, and it's hard to fault his logic when he accuses John (who's merely trying to stay true to his principles) of being an unrealistic dreamer who expects the entire world to change just to accommodate him.Most of the action scenes are very impressive, and filmed so that you can see it's actually the actors getting physical, instead of anonymous fight doubles. It's no coincidence that Rachel Grant and leading man Alexander are both trained marital artists, as are many of those playing the members of the rival gangs. Especially worthy of mention is Chloe Bruce, playing one of The Eels, who has a dazzling exhibition fight against Monaghan in an early scene, and whose character returns to trade kicks and punches with Alexander later in the film. The climatic confrontation between John and Moses also doesn't disappoint.However, because there are so many professional fighters in the cast, 'The Purifiers' is one of those action films where seemingly everybody (and their dog) knows martial acts, as witnessed by an extremely daft scene in which one of The Purifiers seeks shelter in an all-night cafe, only to find herself under attack from a high-kicking, back-flipping waitress!! Also on the downside, there's a very pretentious voice-over, a few unnecessary camera tricks, and some annoying and distracting use of split-screen in a couple of key sequences. The incredibly gorgeous Grant is unforgivably under-used, plus a final twist regarding Frances arrives out of nowhere and lacks any kind of explanation.Ultimately though, The Purifiers is an enjoyable effort, and a highly likable little film.
AmeliaF321
To tell ya the truth, I watched this movie because someone told me it was a great movie. I also thought "well, if that guy from Lord Of The Rings is in it, it must be great, because I loved Lord of the Rings". Well, turns out, you shouldn't trust the movie to be great just because there's a great actor in it. First of all, it was really boring like other comments have said. I had a problem keeping interested with it. And Dominic Monaghan's role in the movie just didn't look good on him. He's not meant to play those kinds of roles... sorry. He should stick to the same kind of character he plays in Lost. This is certainly a movie you'll want to rent before buying if you really want to see it... and frankly, I'm really glad I did so, because this is a movie I don't want to watch several times. This is just my opinion. Others might find that they like this sort of movie. Don't get me wrong, there are some parts in it worthwatching... and the ending is one of them.
