The general gist of Donnie Darko is that the titular character narrowly avoids death when a jet engine crash lands in to his bedroom. Having been visited by a large humanoid rabbit - Frank - who tells him to do things, Donnie then goes on to cause the deaths of several people over the next 28 days, both inadvertently and on purpose. On the 28th day, Donnie sees an aeroplane carrying his mother crash - and the jet engine falls into a time vortex, meaning it was actually the one that crash-landed 28 days ago. Time then reverses to the point at which the engine was about to crash into his bedroom and, instead of escaping, he opts to stay and die, believing that his own death will prevent the many other deaths that he would go on to cause. However, couldn't Donnie have simply used the knowledge he had gained - having experienced the next 28 days of his life already - to not allow all of the people he killed to die? Couldn't he have used that knowledge to get the best out of every situation that was forthcoming? The answer might only be "maybe" (and there is the issue of the universe potentially ending, but people have argued that the corruption in the universe was already fixed), but he could have tried and, at the very least, not died himself. So there you have it - ten movie characters who sacrificed themselves unnecessarily. Did you enjoy this article? Do you agree that these characters essentially died for no good reason? Which other characters made meaningless sacrifices or died without good cause? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. And please feel free to follow K.J. on Twitter!
