Question: Right before Bob brings the Joker the pictures of Knox and Vicki Vale, what are the pictures of the creepy smiling guy in the other room supposed to be of, one of which is him lying on top of a coffin?
Answer: The Joker had somehow obtained CIA files about DDID nerve gas. The picture is of a dead man, presumably a soldier, killed by the gas. He's not on a coffin though, it looks like sandbags. He's smiling because of the effects of the gas contorted his facial muscles that way, much like how the Joker's Smylex leaves its victims with a big grin.
Question: Probably a dumb question, but when I first saw this film.I thought that the opening scene where a young family is mugged in an alleyway was supposed to be a flashback to when a young Bruce Wayne lost his parents. Of course we know it isn't, but is that what the filmmakers wanted us to think. Or was it just my way of thinking?
Chosen answer: It foreshadows what will be learned about what happened to Bruce Wayne's family and what set Batman on his path.
Answer: It's not just you. No matter how many times I watch I find it refreshing that this Batman movie doesn't start off by making us watch Bruce's parents get murdered for the dozenth time. But fans of the character definitely would have fallen for it in the theater, so it's like a clever inside joke for their benefit, I think.
Question: At Bruce Wayne's party, why does Knox (the reporter for the Gotham newspaper) seem to not know who Bruce Wayne is? Knox flat out asks him in the room with the life-size figures "Who are you?" Seems like Knox would know who such a prominent citizen of Gotham is. I understand Vicki Vale not knowing as she is a freelancer in from out-of-town, but Knox not knowing?
Answer: He considers himself a tough hard edge reporter, like Woodard and Bernstein, walking the gritty streets, going down dark alleys and coming face to face with the underworld's rogue's gallery. He regards the entertainment, gossip and high society pages as puff pieces worthy of Catherine "Cat" Grant of the Daily Planet. So he wouldn't recognize the wealthy blue blood types.
Respectfully, that's pure speculation. Bruce Wayne is the most well-known person in Gotham City and surely his name and photo would have been in the newspaper, on magazine covers and on the news many, many times. It makes no sense that Knox wouldn't know who he was. You might not care about Kim Kardashian, but most people would recognize a picture of her.
Answer: In the original comic book lore, young Bruce Wayne travelled the world for years seeking the expertise of the greatest cops, criminals, athletes and martial artists to become Batman. In the movie, "Batman'" had been active for a few months and was considered a urban legend, which means he may well have only recently returned from those travels. Also, at the party celebrating newly appointed Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne's seat was empty, was means he missed several other ceremonies. He was avoiding the spotlight. Forget "Batman Begins."
Question: Why is Robin omitted from this film?
Answer: According to screenwriter Sam Ham, Batman started out solo in the comics.
Answer: In addition to the other answers, it may also be a factor that around this time the "current" Robin, Jason Todd, wasn't very popular, to the extent that a phone poll was taken which ended up with him being killed off not long before this film was released. Batman was Robin-less in the comics from 1988 - 1991. Given Robin's lack of popularity and strong association with the Adam West Batman series, the filmmakers may well have felt that a clean slate would be a better approach.
Answer: Probably because this was the first movie in the series. It sets up the entire Batman premise and goes into Wayne's backstory before he met Robin. Adding Robin at this point would only clutter and confuse the plot. It would also slow the action and diminish the conflict between Batman and the Joker. Robin being introduced later allows for his own history to be better incorporated into the overall story.
Question: Given the Joker's been terrorizing the city and killing people why would anyone be stupid enough to show up for his parade regardless of money?
Answer: Well, given in 2020 there's a global pandemic with a highly contagious disease which is killing thousands, and some people are taking the suggestion / demand to wear a facemask as some sort of personal attack and gathering together to protest against the idea...don't ever underestimate the stupidity of some people. No doubt most of Gotham saw the parade as a dangerous/dreadful idea and stayed home, but there were plenty of idiots who couldn't see beyond their wallets.
Answer: Crime was running rampant in Gotham City and many business were shut down because of this. People were just barely scraping by and so when the Joker offered to drop money on the crowd for the festival, many people went into town out of desperation for some cash. Desperate people do desperate things.
Question: Given how narrow that ledge is, just how could the Joker grab hold of it and silently pull himself onto it prior to yanking Batman and Vicki Vale over the side?
Question: Batman states Joker killed his parents, Joker acts confused. Then after being told he made Batman he says he was a kid when he did it. My question is did he remember, or was he humoring Batman?
Answer: Thank you.
Answer: The Joker most likely did recall the specific killing by that point, especially when Bruce confronted the Joker at Vicki Vale's apartment earlier in the film and told him the story of "a kid I once knew" followed by the physical confrontation in which the Joker "killed" Bruce. The Joker had enough time to put two and two together by the time of the climax at the clock tower; when Batman repeated the Joker's "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" line from earlier, everything fell in place within the Joker's memory.
Question: How did Grissom figure out Jack was sleeping with Alicia?
Answer: He was suspicious, but when she first entered the penthouse and Grissom said to leave their business meeting, he noticed the sexy facial exchange Alicia and Jack gave each other.
Answer: Eckhardt ratted Jack out after getting assaulted by him and muttering under his breath: "Where've you been spending your nights?" He watched Jack long enough to get dirt on him and told Grissom that Jack was stealing his woman. Grissom confirmed it by inviting her up to his apartment when Jack happened to be there and watching to see if they recognized each other. Then he immediately set Jack up to take the fall for Axis Chemicals and gave Eckhardt the tip to get there first and assassinate him.
Question: At one point in the film, Joker says to his henchman Bob "You are my number one, and I..." I understand this is a callback to Carl Grissom saying almost the same thing to Jack Napier early in the film, but since he doesn't finish the sentence, what exactly did Joker mean by the "and I..." part?
Chosen answer: Actually he said, "you are my number one guy."
Question: When Joker goes to Vicky's apartment, how did he know where she lived?
Answer: He could have looked up her address in the phone book. Just before Bruce arrives at Vikki's apartment, Joker asks Bob the Goon for - a phone book. Also he could have been tailing Bruce and found her apartment that way, after all he does show up not long after Bruce does.
Chosen answer: She's a semi-famous reporter/photographer. It would be fairly easy (especially for a criminal) to find her home.
Answer: The military nerve gas is Symlex, he stole it because it leaves the victims smiling, like him.