I really wanted to like this film. On one hand, the idea of a 'Glasgow kung fu film' had the alarm bells ringing, but Jobson's enthusiastic introduction and plea for more genre movies in Scottish film- making assuaged my fears, albeit temporarily, as he went on to say 'story isn't so important' (it's EVERYTHING, imho). I've read the other reviews to try and find the positives, to see if I missed anything. Apart from Dom's sexual magnetism, I don't think I have missed anything. The story, when it appears, is a rip-off of The Warriors, the dialogue is stilted (McKidd's Moses spouting the most clichéd guff),the fight scenes hackneyed (far too much slow- motion). It wouldn't be fair to comment on the acting as the writing gave the actors nothing to work with. There are some scenes where the director is tipping his hat to famous kung-fu movies (e.g. the fight in the restaurant),but instead of the intended tribute, they smack of insults.

I know this was low budget, but with a script as bad as this it should never have been made in the first place. I like Jobson and I want to get behind Scottish filmmakers; I'm hoping 'Sixteen Years of Alcohol' will be a better film. It can't be worse.

'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.

I agree totally with other reviewers, this film is pretty dire im sorry to say, got about half way through hoping it might improve, it didnt, i didnt make it to the end.