Sentence:  The cowboy films , the cops and <WSD>robbers</WSD> films , and the slapstick comedy films culminating in an insane chase are not only catering to what critics may assume to be a vulgar taste for violence ; these films and these sequences are also seeking out - instinctively or by design - the peculiarly cinematic elements of narrative . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a thief who steals from someone by threatening violence