The Dark Knight (2008) - 111 questions

Question: This has been killing me ever since I saw the movie. How did Harvey and Rachel get tied up in the warehouse? Who did that? Some sites say that it was Wuertz and Rameriz and that they were corrupt. But when Dent confronted both of them they said "I didn't know what they were going to do to you." What do they mean by that?

Answer: It's pretty straightforward - Wuertz and Ramirez were involved in kidnapping Harvey and Rachel and handing them over to the Joker's men, but they weren't aware that the pair would subsequently be tied up and surrounded by explosives; that was done by the Joker's henchmen.

Question: The whole point of the ending is that if it was revealed that Dent was a murderer, the criminals that he locked up would be released. Same thing with the fake cop he was threatening. I get all this, but here's the problem: Dent falsely proclaimed that he was Batman in front of the press. Yes, he was lying and the real Batman later showed up, clearing his name, but wouldn't it be just as damaging to Dent's image to show him as a vigilante thug that half of Gotham hates for being responsible for the deaths of innocent people? Surely, at least for a brief time, the locked up criminals would have sufficient grounds for appeal.

Answer: It might, had the story lasted more than a few hours. Immediately after the Joker's capture, which occurs on the same evening as Dent's press conference, reporters are already asking Dent about working with the Batman, indicating that they're already aware that the story is false. From the public point of view, Dent told a lie in order to set himself up as bait to draw out a dangerous criminal. This can only enhance his reputation, and, given that the story lasted, at most, a few hours, there could be no possibility of any criminals managing to get an appeal in.

Question: Where did Harvey get the gun that he threatens Schiff with?

Answer: We're not told - he could have easily bought it at any time in the past, or recently for this specific purpose.

Question: Why not just say that Harvey perished in the hospital explosion? It wouldn't cover up the people he killed, but still it would be painless and easy.

Answer: Well, as you say yourself, it wouldn't cover up the people he killed. It would also immediately raise questions that couldn't be plausibly answered, principally why a senior public official was left to die in the explosion of a building from which everybody else had been evacuated. Likewise, it wouldn't explain how Dent's body was found a long way from the hospital a considerable time later - given the number of police officers who attended the scene, enough people would have seen the body that there's no realistic way it could have been kept a secret. Finally, there's a myth to be built; in terms of Dent's legacy, being brutally murdered at the hands of a crazed vigilante is a much better story to arouse public feeling than him simply dying in an impersonal explosion. For the apparently quite draconian Dent Act to be passed into law, Dent has to be seen as a martyr by the public, so that the public outrage is strong enough to allow such measures to be set up. The hospital explosion story, with all its holes, would never do for that; the story that they go with, that Batman killed him, works much better.

Question: When Chechen meets the Joker in the warehouse, why did his men suddenly turn on him and start working for the Joker? The Joker was the only one in the warehouse, so it would have made sense for Chechen's men to simply say no or even beat him into submission.

Answer: Members of the mob typically respect strength and audacity. The Joker has repeatedly shown himself to have plenty of both in his confrontations with the police, rather more so than the Chechen has shown. Plus, and this is quite a key point, the Joker has all the mob's money. Plenty of reasons why the Chechen's men might find themselves interested in working for him instead.

Question: My question involves the scene where Batman is standing on top of the rubble from the explosion mourning the loss of Rachel while the firefighters are seen behind him putting out the residual flames. Is Batman standing inside the building or outside? This may seem obvious, but I recently had a serious debate on this matter. I personally believe he is standing inside the building but would like clarification if possible. Thanks.

Answer: He's on the rubble, so he must be where the building's inside used to be.

Question: During the fundraiser, Bruce Wayne points at Dent and says, "He is the face of Gotham's future." However after the blast, Dent becomes Two Face. Did Nolan suggest that after the events of the movie, Gotham is going to be like Two Face, i.e. good and evil together?

Answer: That's the sort of question that will no doubt form the basis of a thousand college essays. Yes, the line could be a remark on a split Gotham, with good and evil in equal measure, its also a foreshadowing of Dent's fate to become TwoFACE in the FUTURE.

Question: Is there any indication at all in the film as to who the Joker actually is? Batman is obviously Bruce Wayne, but are we ever given a slight indication as to who the Joker is/was before he became the Joker?

Answer: No. The director/writers have said that they did not want to explore The Joker's history on purpose. They wanted to have the element of mystery, for the viewers.

Question: How did the Joker convince Harvey in the hospital to become bad? I know he talked him into the whole creating chaos in the world thing but that scene confused me. Also, when did we find out that some of the cops were corrupt? Did they help tie up Rachel or something along those lines? Sorry I just got confused with those plot lines.

Answer: Harvey's basically lost it already, driven insane by the death of Rachel and his own injuries. The Joker basically just tells him that order, having rules, hasn't brought him anything but pain, that maybe he should let things get a bit more chaotic, go with random chance rather than regimented rules. In his deranged state, Harvey goes along with it. As for the cops, Harvey knows that both he and Rachel were being escorted home by members of Gordon's team, only to both wake up surrounded by bombs. Fairly obvious from that that there are some bad apples in the bunch.

Question: How on Earth did the Joker know that Reese wasn't dead when he blew up the hospital? It seemed like he just guessed and blew it up anyway.

Answer: Why not? That'd be Joker's style to blow up the hospital anyway, so it's very likely he didn't care whether Reese was dead or not.

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.