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The Action Scene is a column that explores the construction of action set pieces in order to deepen appreciation for and spark discussion about action cinema.“It was clear that Pm weren’t attempting art.” This remark prefaces interviews conducted by the sadly defunct publication Hopes & Fears with various directors and stars who worked with Pm Entertainment, an independent film company that churned out a steady stream of largely direct-to-video movies and television episodes—most famously within the action genre—between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Watching the operatic tour-de-force opening of the Pm film Intent to Kill (1992), however, one might doubt the statement’s accuracy. The extraordinary set piece features squealing tires, spraying glass, and slow-motion gunplay, all against a jet-black sky dotted by the vaporous glow of street lamps. Blue-hued, low-key lighting cuts through night air thick with fog and gun smoke, sustaining a noirish, dreamlike mood...