Mystery DVD Club No 16: The Purifiers

Matt Haigh

The first scene opens with a dreamy voiceover asking, "Who are we? What are we?" which seems to be slightly out of place in a film where men are kicking the shit out of each other

Another Den Of Geek writers gets a mystery DVD in the post. But is The Purifiers the hidden gem we're looking for?

Published on Sep 11, 2009

The Purifiers is a film whose cover provides a pretty big clue as to the quality of film you are about to watch. The biggest star the film has to offer is Dominic Monaghan, formerly a hobbit - indeed, whoever designed the DVD cover has felt it necessary to point out he stared in Lost, just so we know he is actually famous, and that this martial arts tale is worth your time, which it isn't.

The story, such as it is, revolves around rival martial arts clubs who have created their own city infrastructure after tiring of government initiatives. Set in the near future, the titular purifiers battle to maintain the successful system which has rid the city of crime and violence. Put simply, it's quite ridiculous. The first scene even opens with a dreamy, slightly pretentious voiceover asking, "Who are we? What are we?" which seems to be slightly out of place in a film where men are kicking the shit out of each other. These vague monologues have a habit of creeping up now and again, proving both pointless and overly serious for a film of this type.

The English-verging-on-Cockney voiceovers and jaunty piano soundtrack lend proceedings the feel of a cheap crime documentary on BBC1, most notably in the scene that introduces the main villain of the piece, given the provocative title of "Moses". What sets out to be a Guy Ritchie-style caper ends up as Eastenders after dark.

For some reason, possibly just for its own sake, the director felt it necessary to press all the special effects buttons when it comes to the fight sequences, often splitting the screen in two. Nearly every fight scene suffers from serious overuse of slow motion, to the point where it becomes difficult to tell who's fighting whom. Such a tactic, rather than bringing anything to the table, really only serves to drain all tension and adrenaline.

On the positive side, the cinematography is quite sharp and glossy, evoking the feel of the mean, neon-lit streets. Blood-red trains pull into amber-soaked stations, the streets are slicked with rain and paved with golden lamplight. There are also some nice touches, such as the flashing neon crucifixes on the uniforms of the gang working for Moses, and the female biker gangs reminiscent of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. However, the concept of the city being divided up into zones feels like a cheap Orwellian trick, and overall proceedings are far too trashy to be taken seriously.

Martial arts is a genre of film that's pretty difficult to make interesting. The basic premise is always going to be that two rival gangs get together and pull an array of gravity and realism-defying moves, with one side proving victorious (and probably getting the girl to boot). Here we have a slightly new approach, but whose style and aesthetic could have been borrowed from a dozen other films of its type. The Purifiers is a film that fails to stand out from the crowd.