The long flashbacks are unironically the only reason why these movies are even possible. It wouldn't have mass appeal with every single demographic otherwise. Women and old people are NOT sitting through 30 minutes (heck, even 20 minutes) of nonstop fighting coreography and characters screaming the names of their special attacks out loud. The breaks are needed to give their eyes some time to rest, and to remind the casual viewer why he's supposed to care about all the fighting and screaming in the first place.