An excerpt from my script review for Hellboy (2019) which will be available 04/15/19:
3.) Quality of Characters
The character relationships felt rather contrived.
Hellboy fought with Broom for no other reason than teenage angst? Is he even still a teenager?
There was this whole portion where Hellboy’s mad that Broom never told him that Nazis started the ritual that brought him to Earth. Why was that important? Not like Broom was a Nazi.
And then the tension between Hellboy and Daimo, also felt manufactured.
Listen, it’s good to have friction between your characters, but there needs to be some foundation behind why they don’t get along.
Forcing them to argue for the sole purpose of you wanting them to be “best buddies” by fade out isn’t sufficient.
Making their disagreement feel real will make the characters come alive.
On a similar note, give your villain realistic motivation for revenge. In this plot the Gruagach wanted to murder Hellboy because he burned the changling with iron?
Okay, and then what? You were already investing in a flashback to tell this back-story, maybe include what the fairies did to Graugach once he failed.
As it’s written now, the main reason behind him wanting to resurrect the Blood Witch feels hollow.
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