Here’s a really good video essay from Sam and Niko about action scenes in movies. They first start by showing us what bad action scenes look like — quick cuts, implied action, reason-less fighting, etc. — and then delve into movies that do action scenes really well (involve characters we care about, actually show the action and the action with reaction, etc.). It’s really nice to be able to see the good and the bad side-by-side, since the differences are highlighted even more.
Action scenes are hard to do and there shouldn’t be action for action’s sake. Though I have a confession to make: I’ve definitely enjoyed action movies with bad action scenes.