I saw Captain America on both the midnight showing AND opening day, so you know I mean it when I say that I absolutely loved this movie. I intend to write my review later on in the weekend. However, one giant thing has been nagging me about this movie, and that is Steve Rogers' heroic sacrifice.
Did he really have to perish? In the movie, he claimed that there was no time to waste and that he had to get the plane into the water. But wait.... why was there no time left? The bombs that Red Skull were planning on dropping had to be deployed by the pilot of the ship.... who happened to be Steve Rogers. Couldn't he safely fly over the US without triggering any of the bombs?
Furthermore, how was the plane inoperable? He was clearly able to steer the plane towards the ground. Why couldn't he just do a 360 degree turn-around back to England?
And last but not least, wasn't the cosmic cube what was powering the whole ship? With the cube gone, wouldn't the plane just crash into the ground anyway? I'd be happier with this reasoning because at least Steve Rogers would have died no matter what.
I'm not normally one who searches for goofs in movies, but this one was too big for me to not notice. It's one of the most momentous moments in Cap's life and the Marvel Universe, and I'd hate for it to be tainted by some pretty lazy film-making. Did anyone that went to see this movie happen to pick up on something that I missed? Is there an explanation for why he had to sacrifice himself?
(P.S. In case you didn't catch this before, I'm not picking on Captain America. I loved this movie and I'm simply pointing this out in hopes someone will correct me.)