Perhaps you've seen excerpts from old silent films? You know the scene: helpless heroine down on her knees - or maybe strapped to a railway line, the villain twirling his moustache and gloating at her predicament. It's all as black and white as the films themselves.
But in reality even the hardest of villains can have a soft centre, however bullet-proof its wrappings - and the search for it will engage your readers and make your story more memorable.
So, don't give all the goodies to your hero. Spend some time fleshing out your villain. He may have a wife or mistress - he treats her harshly, but he has a deep and tender love for their daughter; he may weep when he sees an animal in pain; he may be generous to down-and-outs; he may be moved to tears when he listens to Mahler's 5th Symphony; he may risk his life to save a drunken student being swept away downriver.
After that, give him (or her?) some small self-indulgences, weaknesses and irritations. Instead of sipping the most expensive brandy, have him eating a whole box of chocolates in one sitting; carefully smoothing his hair over that little bald patch; writing bad poetry; returning to his luxury apartment and sitting in lonely silence; worrying if that niggling ache is a bad omen or just indigestion.
In other words, create a real human being whom your readers can, at least partly, identify with.
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