"While comedies seek to make viewers laugh and horror movies want to take audiences into the darkness, action films hope to raise heart rates through a combination of motion and impact. A fist connecting with a face, a car holding tight to the asphalt as it corners at over 100 mph, feet leaving the ground to rise up and stomp down on an enemy's head, a hammer swinging through the air to pierce a bad guy's awaiting flesh, a helicopter chase through tight ravines — these aren't things we want to encounter in the real world, but action movies (like horror) use them to entertain, thrill, and create opportunities for catharsis.
But this doesn't need to be a psychoanalyst's version of rocket science. We like action movies because when done right they're entertaining as hell."
