The action movie has been around since 1903’s “The Great Train Robbery,” and when done right, it’s a form of pure cinema injected straight into the veins. It’s a very particular set of skills, one that’s thwarted many great directors, but in able hands capable of precisely choreographing a fight, battle, chase or showdown, to shoot them in inventive and thrilling ways, and to cut them to maximize tension and visceral qualities, the form can reach a level of transcendence.
