The Dark Knight (2008) - 101 questions

Question: During the bank robbery scene one of the clown henchmen in the bank is wearing the purple coat, trousers and leather gloves the Joker wears for the rest of the film. Does this mean once he is hit by the bus the Joker stripped him of the clothes or dragged his body onto the bus when he was off-camera to take the clothes later? Because as he says to the Mob bosses that "the suit isn't cheap, you should know you bought it", so does this mean he had a replica suit made?

Answer: Yes, the implication is very strong that he had the suit, which is far nicer and better made than the vaguely similar one worn in the opening heist, using the money that he stole from the mob bosses.

Question: Every time I watch the movie, I can't work out why Batman tells Gordon that he is going to save Rachel (so that Gordon's unit saves Dent), but lies and saves Dent (Gordon unit are at Dent's place but Batman enters from the back door, leaving Rachel to die). Why would he do that to Rachel as she is his oldest friend?

Answer: Hate to say it, but you've got the situation completely wrong. Bruce thinks he's going to save Rachel, but the Joker lied to him, he reversed the addresses where the two were being held. So Bruce shows up, expecting to find Rachel, but finds Harvey instead and rescues him. Meanwhile, Gordon and his men, who think that they're going after Harvey, arrive at the place where Rachel's being held, but the bomb detonates before they can get into the building to save her.

Question: When Bruce speeds through the light in the Lamborghini to intercept the intentional crash into Reese's car, Reese got out of the car and glanced at Bruce for a few seconds. Does Reese really know that Bruce is Batman? Because there is almost a look of uncertainty or a lack of recognition on Reese's face when he looks at Bruce.

Answer: It certainly seems that Reese is pretty confident about Bruce being Batman. I always interpreted the look of uncertainty that Reese gives him as being more a degree of shock and shame that, even though he tried to blackmail him and then went to the TV station to reveal Bruce's big secret to the whole world, Bruce would still put his life on the line to save him.

Question: Did anyone know that Gordon didn't actually die? Or were Batman or Dent in on the plan?

Answer: Given Dent's reaction after Gordon saves him it seems he had no idea. It seems by Batman's reaction in the armored car chase that he knew Gordon was the driver but it's not totally clear. Batman going to Gordon's house after his apparent death gives viewers the idea he also thought Gordon was dead. This may have just been Batman "playing to appearances" so to say. The way the chase ended seems to lead you to think Batman and Gordon had planned the whole thing together.

Question: I searched a lot and kept expecting to see this discussed: Why doesn't Gordon arrest Ramirez after the hospital explosion? At this point he's done a mea culpa to Dent re not taking his advice on MCU corruption; he's received a trusted text message about Ramirez & Berg; and he's experienced Berg's betrayal first-hand. Yet he talks about Dent being missing in front of her, then entrusts her with critical operational duties. Even though they're close and in disaster conditions, his utter failure to call her out on anything is bizarre given what's already happened.

Answer: Denial, plain and simple. Gordon can't accept the fact that someone he trusted so implicitly turned out to be crooked.

Question: After the MCU explosion there is a scene where the Joker has his head sticking out of the back seat of a police car and police are chasing him. What is this? He can't drive from the back seat, so what exactly is happening?

Answer: The Joker's henchmen are driving the car.

Question: In the trivia, it states that Heath Ledger based his performance on Sid Vicious and Alex from 'A Clockwork Orange'. Can someone tell me in what way his performance was influenced by these people? Did he use their mannerisms, and if so, which ones?

Answer: To get a proper answer we would have to ask Heath Ledger, who is unfortunately dead. Both Sid and Alex were Anarchists as is The Joker so I would say that their attitudes and views were integrated into Heath Ledger's performance, rather than any specific mannerisms or attributes.

Question: In the scene where Joker "crashes the party", I'm fairly certain I heard him say "Good evening ladies and gentleman." Not "gentlemen", the plural, but "gentleman", the singular. Why did Joker say this? Whom was he referring to?

Answer: He said gentlemen.

Question: When Batman rescues Harvey in the warehouse, Rachel says something but is cut off when the bomb explodes. "Harvey I have to tell you something. Som..." Does anyone know what is said? This is driving me crazy.

Answer: Don't know what version of the film you were watching, but in the one I have, their final conversation runs like this. Rachel: "Harvey, just in case, I want to tell you something, okay?" Harvey: "Don't think like that, they're coming." Rachel: "I know they are, but I don't want them to. I don't want to live without you and I do have an answer for you. My answer is yes." Bruce then arrives and drags Harvey from the room and Rachel's final words are "Harvey, it's okay. It's alright. Listen. Som..." and then the bomb detonates. What Rachel tells Harvey is a reply to his proposal earlier in the film, telling him that she will marry him, something that she says quite successfully before she's killed. What she may have gone on to say is unknown, but she certainly got out what she had to tell him. As she speaks after discovering that someone's come to rescue Harvey, it seems likely she's about to say "someone will come for me too" or similar.

Question: While in the hospital recuperating from his burns, why were there restraints on Harvey Dent to keep him in his bed?

Answer: The restraints aren't to keep him in bed but to keep him from touching or scratching his burns in his sleep/unconciousness. Later, you see him remove his bandages himself. In real life, with burns that severe, it would result in immediate severe infections to expose raw muscle, tendon, etc. to the air.

Question: For the scene where Joker burns the money, he says he is only burning his half. However, with Gambol already dead, the Russian and Lau about to be killed and Maroni in absentia, is he actually burning all (or nearly all) the money? It seems to mirror the bank job (systematically eliminating the equal share) and in general the Joker's twisted sensibilities.

Answer: It could very well be half the money. He could have already delivered the money somewhere else, or is in fact keeping their half for his own reasons.

Question: In the trailer the Joker walks towards Batman on the street, pulls out a knife and tosses it to his other hand, but in the movie they don't show that. Was that part cut out of the movie?

Answer: Trailers are almost invariably put together before the final edit of the film is locked down. As such, it's not uncommon for them to contain shots from deleted scenes, alternate takes and so forth. The shot that you refer to wasn't used in the final version of the film, that's all.

Question: This part bugs me every time I watch the film. After Batman has crashed the tanker and the Joker is walking down the street, Batman charges at him with the bike. The Joker refuses to move, and Batman then yells and crashes his bike in an almost comically stupid way. I understand that there's supposed to be some form of turmoil in Batman's mind over whether or not he should just mow the Joker down, and at the end he decides not to, but it just seems so blunt and amusingly done. Is there more to it? Was it even meant to be a spot of comic relief?

Answer: Comic relief? Naah, it looks odd because it's staged. Batman's putting himself into a vulnerable position to let Gordon get the drop on the Joker. Bruce, as a wanted vigilante, obviously can't make a citizen's arrest and he's not going to risk leaving the Joker tied up somewhere until the police get there. So he crashes the bike intentionally, leaving himself vulnerable. He knows that he'll get the Joker's attention that way, which will give Gordon a chance to get close enough to grab him.

Question: Do either of The Joker's "You wanna know how I got these scars" stories have a hint of truth to them? Also, why does he recount the stories to people?

Answer: There's no way to tell - the Joker gets no backstory at all in the film, other than the two stories that he tells, which contradict each other anyway. In all likelihood, they're both lies, made up on the spot. As to why he tells them, it distracts people, puts them on edge, plus, most importantly, it amuses him to do so.

Question: I know this is a long shot, but are there any theories as to The Joker's real identity and origins?

Answer: No. Well, there are probably lots of people who have formulated theories of their own after watching the film, but there's been nothing from the filmmakers. The thing is, it doesn't matter who he originally was or where he came from - none of that is relevant to who he is now, so, in all likelihood, they never bothered to come up with any sort of backstory for him.

Question: In the scene when Batman is kidnapping Lau, how does he vanish when getting shot at in the office?

Answer: The skyhook mentioned earlier. He throws a parachute out of the window, and the plane hooks onto it and pulls him out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system.

Question: When the Joker is giving his speech to the people on the ferries, there is a shot of him in the Pruitt building. The camera is behind him and in the reflection on the glass you can see him reading his speech from a piece of paper. Why is he doing this? Is it to make sure he remembers his own plan? Or is there something else going on?

Answer: He's got a big speech to make - seems reasonable that he might have made some notes so that he didn't forget anything. Most people do that under such circumstances. There certainly aren't any indications in the film that it was anything else - while it might be a mistake, it fits the scene well enough that there's no way to tell either way.

Question: I know this is bound to be a major point of debate (and I don't mean to imply it's the only reason he did), but with the recent Oscar ceremony, would Heath Ledger still have won if he hadn't died?

Answer: While there is no real way to know the true answer to your question, in my opinion yes he would. Other actors have been nominated posthumously in the past but not won.

Question: In the scene where Batman makes the semi flip over, and the Joker stumbles out of the wreckage, what kind of gun is he using?

Answer: That is a Smith & Wesson M76 Submachine gun.

Question: Anna Ramirez tells Jim Gordon that the Joker card pinned to the fake Batman's body has three sets of DNA on it: Judge Surrillo's, Commissioner Loeb's and Harvey Dent's. So they go and make sure of their safety while ordering Wuertz to find Dent (who is incidentally working for the Joker). But while Dent is speaking to Rachael, Bruce knocks him unconscious and hides him in a broom cupboard. How did Bruce know that The Joker was targeting Dent? He had no contact with Jim Gordon as he was not in the Batsuit. Did he just randomly anticipate the Joker's threat on Dent?

Answer: They are at a fundraiser for Harvey Dent (who is by the way NOT working for the Joker at all!). It is not a long stretch to assume that when armed terrorists come storming into the fundraiser, that Dent will be a major target for them, if not the prime one. Bruce simply does not take the chance to wait and find out if it's a robbery or an assassination attempt, but gets Dent to safety at once.