Action Basics 2

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Ninja (Isaac Florentine, 2009)

So much to learn here, and not just about action cinema. Players intersecting, drawn together by form. Movement matching movement. 

Innocent customers flee, the camera quickly following "Baseball Cap Guy", until reversing directions to follow the henchmen to the doorway of the cafe. The movement of Baseball Cap Guy begins the cycle of movement that make up this sequence, a sense of matched motions.

And then, beautifully, at the tail end of the shot you can see our hero, Adkins, in the doorway. Cut to a shot from inside the cafe, the henchmen spilling in. It's a seamless progression, the out-of-focus Adkins preparing himself at the first shot's conclusion, the henchman springing into the cafe immediately in the second shot. 

In the same shot, Adkins kicks down Henchman 1, before throwing Henchman 2 to the floor in a fluid motion, the camera accompanying the falling body. 

Baseball Cap Guy's retreat unspools into the henchmen's attack, which feeds into Adkins' athleticism. A complete transference of motion.  

Eight seconds.