Characters
This is the nineties. You don’t just go around punching people. You have to say something cool first.
— Hallenbeck · The Last Boy Scout

Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
A tongue-in-cheek rule of modern manners: violence isn't enough on its own, you need a good one-liner before throwing a punch. The joke is that style has become mandatory, so even a fight requires a clever quip to count as properly done.
Context reviewed