A Major Mistake Movies Make

One major failure modern films (and TV series) fall into is having the protagonist refuse to kill the bad guy.

This mistake is virtually in every film and TV show.

For some reason, Hollywood wants us to think that it's a good thing to let the bad guys survive. They try to justify this action by putting moral message to it. Either (a) the protagonist is an uncompromisingly moral and strong character with deep character development, or (b) the villain has a change of heart and becomes good again. 

Outside of the "Spider-Man Trilogy" films, this is nothing close to reality. What happens in these films is that the protagonist has a chance—many, in fact—to kill the bad guy, but chooses not to.

Case in point: Superhero stories. The hero and his team have a chance to kill the main villain, but instead let him go. Shows like DC’s Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow give the heroes plenty of chances to go and stop the villains once and for all, but they lack the guts to do it. The filmmakers might think they’re portraying the characters as good guys trying not to kill people. Doing so puts more innocent lives in danger.

Hollywood says this is the right call, but the real reason they do this is two words: sequels and "plot." Big-wig Hollywood filmmakers and companies want to captivate, and by that I mean annoy, audiences by leaving certain antagonists to live.

The other reason Hollywood does this is to drag the plot of a series to a final conclusion with the season finale.

Tinsel Town also manipulates men into thinking it is the right thing to let a monster live because they voice it through the male protagonist’s love interest, playing on his emotions. Marvel’s Daredevil makes this mistake: Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) tells Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) that if he kills the man responsible for his family’s death, he will lose any chance he has with her and will become the monster people think he is. He ends up going through with his quest for vengeance, still a good man.

Thank God there's a solution. Filmmakers can create films and TV series where the protagonists have a great sense of justice and do the right thing without making it look cheesy. That comes when decide to put the time, hard work, and effort into making characters with strong character development that audiences can relate to.