Action stories can take different shapes and sizes, but the format feels much the same. Period settings, unique locations, fictional weaponry, and many other creative choices can add a lot to a white-knuckle thrill ride. Action projects set in the real world and the modern era tend to break out various vehicles. Impressively skilled drivers can use a vehicle as a weapon and a means of transportation.
One of the big decisions when making a piece of action media is the weapon of choice. Guns, swords, knives, lasers, fighter jets, submarines, tanks, mech suits, fists, and found objects have unique cinematic languages. It's hard to film a gunfight the way one would naturally depict a fistfight. Cars have a special place on the list that gives them multiple roles across projects.
Car Fu is the general term for an all-purpose martial art in which automobiles are the only available weapon. A moving car can be incredibly lethal under the right circumstances. Narratively, cars can represent the default tool used by heroes and villains in tests of driving skills. It can also be the desperate improvised solution to a problem that traditional weaponry couldn't solve. A character might attempt to ram their car through a protected structure to enable a dynamic entry. One could use a car to force an oncoming army to scatter or be mowed down. If a hero has a memorable personal vehicle, it's likely to become a weapon. In rare cases, a particularly strong character might just pick up a car and throw it at their opponent. An automobile can be the perfect weapon in the right situation.
Arguably, the idea behind Car Fu dates back to earlier examples of mobile combat. A chariot pulled by elephants will send an enemy army scattering to the trees about as well as any armored vehicle would today. Ancient naval strategies frequently involved smashing one ship into another one, occasionally after lighting the initial vessel on fire. Cars didn't become a common commodity for most Americans until the 1920s. It didn't take long for the two concepts to merge.
One of the earliest masters of Car Fu remains one of its strongest warriors today. Batman's iconic Batmobile debuted in 1939, 27 issues into the original Detective Comics run. Batman has used his automobile as a battering ram, a siege weapon, and a last-ditch effort against any foe who couldn't be punched. Batman frequently calls the Batmobile in with a remote control, making it an effective finishing move in any encounter. It was iconic enough to become his ultimate attack in Injustice: Gods Among Us. Though the Batmobile is frequently armed with various weapons, the Caped Crusader regularly sets aside his martial arts training and relies on a bit of Car Fu.
The first car chase in cinematic history came in 1903's Runaway Match. From the earliest days of the horseless carriage, they've been on the big screen. As the price tag of making a movie skyrocketed in the past 120 years, entire franchises are dedicated to the idea of crashing cars into one another. No treatise on the cinematic treatment of the automobile would be complete without a full accounting of the Fast and Furious saga. As the tenth film prepares to enter theaters, the series continues its bizarre escalation. The first four entries were relatively grounded films about street racing and petty theft. The following six have been increasingly absurd superhero movies about unstoppable automotive deities. The Fast family has weaponized everything with an engine. From simple T-bone maneuvers to remote controlling every vehicle in a parking garage like a 2-ton drone strike, the Fast saga is Car Fu as a franchise.
Video games have also enjoyed a lot of Car Fu. The 1976 arcade game Death Race is the first recorded example. Later eclipsed by the controversial 1997 title Carmageddon and ostensibly inspired by the Roger Corman film which bares its title, Death Race is a game about running over diminutive humanoid "gremlins." It's not a complex game, but it did inspire many angry parents to smash its arcade machines. Racing games, like Need for Speed or Burnout, frequently allow players to obliterate each other with a well-timed pit maneuver. Demolition derby games like Twisted Metal mostly employ long-ranged weapons, but they have plenty of ramming opportunities. Open-world games like Grand Theft Auto encourage plowing down enemies and bystanders with whatever the player can drive. Even a fighting game like Super Smash Bros lets run down a foe with Wario's motorcycle or Captain Falcon's Blue Falcon.
Car Fu is a simple concept that has evolved since before most people could reasonably afford cars. Crashing cars will always be one of the most exciting cinematic stunts. It's not even limited to action films. Comedies will destroy twenty cop cars for a gag. Horror movies will depict their masked slasher flattened by a speeding motor vehicle. Even heartfelt dramas often use a tragic car crash as a convenient cause of character death. Car Fu implies some level of mastery, but part of what makes the automotive arts so fun is that anyone can do it.