Question: How did Ramirez know who the DNA on the Joker card belonged to (the commissioner, the judge, and Dent), considering that their DNA would have had to be in the system for comparative analysis? My understanding is that only criminals are in the system. The obvious answer is she had insider information but the bigger question is why would Gordon or any respectable police agency not question this fact?
Answer: It's possible that the Gotham Police Department works differently and most citizens of Gotham are in the system. It's also quite common that everybody involved with the police (commissioners, and former policemen included) has a DNA sample taken in case of accidental crime scene contagion. The judge could be in the system simply because she had her DNA taken as a youth for a small offence.
Question: My question is regarding the first shot of the film. You see the back of a henchman holding a clown mask with a suitcase. Later you realize that this is the Joker, however he is in full make up. So does this mean he was standing out in broad daylight without a disguise on at the very beginning?
Answer: Yes. No reason not to. Nothing's happened yet and people in a big city like Gotham would just walk past the guy with the weird makeup and not think anything of it. (And since they wear masks in the holdup, nobody's going to think that the guy in the mask is in weird makeup under it).
Batman was shown a joker card in an evidence bag at the end of Batman Begins so would not at least some of the police be looking for him?
This doesn't mean that the general public is on the lookout for a guy in makeup.
Question: When Rachel tells Alfred to give Bruce the envelope and he says "how will I know" and she says it's not sealed. What does she mean by that? Is she implying that he can read it? I know I may have answered my own question but I just need to be sure.
Answer: Yes, she is implying he should read the letter so that he knows the right time to give it to Bruce.
Question: When Gordon faked his death, I'd assume he was wearing a bullet proof vest, but when he got shot you could see blood from his back. Why was there blood? Did he really get shot and survive or was that a movie mistake?
Question: A few questions about all the deaths being blamed on Batman. Why couldn't they blame it on The Joker or one of his henchmen? What would they have said Batman's motives were? And who would've told everyone, and how? If it was Gordon, he'd have to say he was an eye witness, because there was no evidence, and wouldn't people think it was weird he didn't do anything about it?
Chosen answer: The Joker was already being arrested by a large number of officers at the time of the incident with Dent. The Batman, already a wanted criminal, was the easy choice for them to make. He could take the blame whilst allowing Dent to die as a hero, implementing new laws to bring down organised crime.
Alternatively, it was done this way so that the title of the movie made more sense.
Question: In the scene when Batman is kidnapping Lau, how does he vanish when getting shot at in the office?
Answer: Batman was trained as a ninja and can seemingly disappear at will. It isn't known where he goes when he dives behind the glass, just that he vanishes and then reappears behind Lau and the shooters to take them out.
Question: Seeing how most of Christopher Nolan's movies are filled with symbolism, themes, and deeper meanings, what exactly was Nolan trying to say with the brief introduction of the copy-cat Batmen? I ask because it would seem to contradict the recurring theme of "Anyone can be Batman", but I doubt Nolan would include something like that without having a reason that goes beyond simple plot reasons.
Answer: Batman has inspired others to take up the cause of vigilantism, but they're taking it to an extreme and crossing lines that he never would.
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: 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: In the comic books, there was never any background on who the Joker was or where he came from. In some comic book lore, there were brief indications of his past. One, that he was an enforcer for Falcone. The other he was part of the Red Hood gang.
Exactly. Real beginnings of the Joker is that there is no origin story for him. He just appeared. In the comics, Joker says something that perhaps defines him pretty well too which is "sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Hahaha!"
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: 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: 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. He did say in an interview that his performance was in part based on Tom Waits, and that seems spot on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsRbhBXPgKk.
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: This has been killing me since I saw the movie in theaters: in the final fight between Joker and Batman, Batman gets caught up in some netting in the room they're fighting in, and as Joker moves in he says, "All the old familiar places" as he begins attacking Batman. What does that mean? The only explanation I can think of is that it might be an allusion to Tim Burton's Batman in which Joker and Batman fight at the top of a building.
Question: When the Joker tells Batman that he'll have to break his one rule (not killing anyone) is he referring to the choice he'll have to make with Harvey and Rachel, or is he foreshadowing Harvey's death at the hands of Batman. Also on that note, since Batman did kill Harvey, does that mean the Joker did win over Batman?
Answer: He's obviously referring to the choice that Batman has to make - even the Joker, at that point, can't predict how things are going to turn out with Harvey. He's telling Batman that he's going to have to choose to let somebody die in order to save the other. Second part is kinda iffy - Bruce isn't intentionally choosing to kill Harvey, which was the point the Joker was making earlier, about forcing Bruce to consciously choose to let somebody die. He's doing what he has to to save Gordon's son; Harvey's death is a by-product of that, rather than a deliberate decision on Bruce's part. The fall that Harvey took wasn't so far that he couldn't potentially have survived - Bruce did what he had to do to save the boy and left Harvey, somewhat appropriately, in the hands of fate. Harvey's death leaves Bruce in a pretty dark place, but it's probably not reasonable to say that the Joker actually turned him to the dark side, as it were.
Question: When the Joker burns his half of the money, why didn't any of his own henchmen stop/subdue him and/or pillage the money for themselves? Piles of cash that high (even if it only consists of $1.00 Bills) shows that the cash amount would be substantially high (a few hundred million to say the least).
Answer: Given the Joker's tendency towards extreme and somewhat random violence, killing abruptly and on a whim, it would be a brave henchman who tried to interfere with his plans. It's also established that many of the Joker's henchmen are recruited from among the mentally unstable inmates of Arkham Asylum, so money may well be not as great a priority to them as it would be to your average mob henchman. Finally, as you mention in your submission, the Joker specifically states that he's only burning half of the money that he took from Lau. That still leaves plenty of money to go around among his crew - if the boss wants to burn his half share, that's his business.
Someone stated on another question, and I believe it to be accurate - Joker is burning his half of the money...which is the bottom half of the money stack. The top half is the Mobs money, but that is obviously going to burn too and that is why the other mob leader objects. Joker says he doesn't need money, cause the things he likes are cheap. Still, I don't think any of the joker's henchmen are going to be brave enough to try and stop him.
Question: Is the Joker supposed to have a high tolerance for pain/injury or something? Some examples: 1)Batman slams his head down hard on a table, violently punches his fingers, slams his head/face into the glass, and then punches him in the face during the interrogation scene, and the Joker simply laughs it off, and doesn't seem to have any broken fingers nor a concussion. 2) When Batman causes the truck to flip over, the Joker walks away without any visible injuries and although he stumbles and falls once, he seems to be perfectly fine. 3) Batman slices him in the face with his zipline, throws him off the building and then yanks him up. Again, no injury (at least a broken ankle?). Does the Joker simply not care about feeling pain, or perhaps even enjoys it due to his insanity? Do the comics ever touch upon this? Because in "The Dark Knight" he's able to withstand some serious physical punishment, the extent of which not many people would be able to.
Answer: In the comics, the Joker has an almost supernatural ability to survive things that would kill anyone else. Whether it's because of his insanity, the best luck in the world, or both, yes he has a high tolerance for pain.
Question: Why does Maroni know where the Joker will be "this afternoon"? He tells Gordon in the hospital as Gordon visits Dent. And why comes the Chechen visit the Joker in the warehouse? From who does HE know where the Joker is? Did the Joker tell them where he keeps the money? And if he did so: why did he tell them where it was if he just wants to burn it?
Chosen answer: Both.
MasterOfAll