Arguing that the climactic battle has more meaning and relevance than the overarching story of most martial arts movies sounds like a damning assessment of the entire genre. However, prioritizing action over narrative isn’t unique to this cinematic niche. In fact, many mainstream Hollywood franchises take the same approach.
The likes of Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious choose their big set pieces first, then hang the plot beats around them. The same approach being taken in Asian cinema makes total sense. The question is, why is this the case, and what can we learn from it?
Patience & The Payoff
Martial arts cinema balances long periods of inaction with explosions of violence. The audience needs to be patient to get to that final showdown, or else the impact won’t be the same.
It’s a lot like how you need to put the work in when playing online slots games, holding your nerve in pursuit of that eventual big payout. The spins in between starting a session and winning don’t matter in isolation, but sitting through them builds tension and gives you more of a sense of achievement.
The Standard Story Framework
Another reason the plot of many martial arts movies is secondary to the final duel is the stories themselves. Many use plots that share the same framework. Often, revenge drives things forward. Or, it’s a young hero’s journey from immaturity to experience that’s the basis. Frequently, they’re based on folk tales and well-known figures who are already in the public consciousness.
These long-established, regularly reused plots and characters don’t matter, since they rarely say anything new. Where the filmmakers want to showcase their originality and inventiveness is in the fight choreography and practical effects.
Jackie Chan’s early career is full of these examples. The likes of The Little Tiger of Canton and Drunken Master have boilerplate plots. What made them stand out was their action and Chan’s skill.
Even quirky, higher-brow martial arts films like Takeshi Kitano’s Zatoichi are less about clever plotting and more about putting everything in place for a satisfying climax. The final fight in this 2003 classic might be very brief, but it’s still incredibly memorable.
Engaging the Audience
Cinema can be an efficient medium for telling a story. Still, a lot of time must be spent on establishing characters, filling in backstory, and broader worldbuilding to make us care about what happens. Martial arts movies use their recycled plots as a shortcut to get to this point earlier. Audiences are up to speed automatically, saving a lot of time.
Timing matters because final duels and other set-piece sequences can eat into much of the movie’s total runtime. If you’re going to have your characters going toe to toe for 20 or more minutes, you can’t afford as much room for exposition early on.
So, don’t worry that martial arts cinema isn’t always plot-heavy, and that the emphasis falls on final duels. It’s a strength of the genre, and why we all love it.
