Question: Did the Joker originally want to kill Harvey Dent during the convoy chase? If Dent had been blown up, the kidnapping scenario could not have happened, and Joker implies this was his "ace in the hole" plan. So what were Joker's intentions?
Question: Does Joker really want to kill Batman at first? He says explicitly during the interrogation, "I don't want to kill you." Yet earlier he told the mob "It's simple, kill the Batman," and he says later (when he makes the threat on the hospital) that he's changed his mind. So did he want to kill Batman at first? And at what point exactly did he change his mind?
Answer: The Joker has his own agenda, which is basically the promotion of anarchy in Gotham City. With both the police and the mob gunning for him, that's going to be tricky to do. He can hardly ally himself with the police, so he tells the mob what they want to hear to get them off his back while he takes over. There's no particular indication that he ever really wants to kill Batman.
Question: Batman talked about jumping out of an airplane to capture the money man in China. What happened to that scene? Did he do it off-screen, just to enter the country illegally?
Answer: Yes, just did it off-screen with the aim of entering the country illegally. Not really a terribly important thing to actually show - they mention how he intends to get in there, then we see him in Hong Kong, so we can assume that it went well. Showing it would just have slowed down the pace of the film.
Question: The money the Joker burns - why did he get it? I thought he wants to have the money for killing Batman. And he has neither killed him nor unmasked him. So why did the Mob give him the money? They knew that Dent wasn't the real Batman.
Answer: He stole it. He took Lau from police custody, found out where he stashed all the mob money and simply took it.
Question: In the scene where Wayne and Fox are looking at the new Batman stuff. Wayne ask Fox if the armor will stop and dog attack and Fox asks if its for a Rottweiler or Chihuahua. Fox then says it will stop a cat. So does that mean that Catwoman will be in the next movie?
Answer: No. It's an off-handed jokey comment by Fox, don't read anything more into it than that. It is, of course, possible that Catwoman could appear in a sequel, but the simple fact is that Christopher Nolan gave no thought to a possible sequel while putting this film together, preferring to focus on the job at hand, and has only recently started considering possible story ideas for a third film that, at this point, he's not even committed to making. If Catwoman serves the story that he decides that he wants to tell, he'll include her, otherwise, he won't. But there's no point in looking for foreshadowing in The Dark Knight, because there really isn't any.
Question: In the "sonar room" scene, did Fox say that the population of Gotham was thirty million or did I hear that wrong?
Answer: Yes, he did say 30 million people.
Question: Not related to movie. Did Christian Bale get work done on his teeth? In Batman Begins, his teeth were quite crooked and his jawline was quite distinct. In this movie they seem straight and perfect.
Answer: Yes. definitely. His teeth look much straighter in this movie.
Question: In the courtroom scene, the mob guy suddenly pulls out a gun and attempts to kill Harvey Dent. How was he able to get a gun into the court building? Surely the metal detectors and/or security would have easily caught him?
Answer: Dent specifically describes it as a ceramic gun, which is presumably designed not to set off metal detectors. It's arguable that security should have frisked him more closely, but as the witness was expected to be cooperative, based on his previously sworn statement, it's understandable that they didn't consider him a major threat and simply relied on the metal detectors.
Question: In the bank robbery at the beginning of the movie, the Joker and his henchman are being shot at by the Bank Manager. They decide to return fire and the henchman says something to the Joker. He jumps up and starts shooting but the Joker delays a few seconds before jumping up and shooting the Bank Manager. The Henchman then says to the Joker, "Where did you learn to count?" My question is, what was said before they decide to return fire?
Answer: He says "He's out, right?", basically asking if the bank manager has any ammunition left, based on how many shells a gun of that type should carry. The Joker thinks for a moment, then nods, so the henchman stands up to fire, thinking that he's safe, that the manager is out of bullets. Unfortunately, the Joker having lied, he's wrong and ends up getting shot. The Joker then stands up and shoots the manager, having maneuvered his henchman into taking the last bullet.
Question: Why doesn't Wayne Enterprises conduct business in the same building as in Batman Begins? The building is seen in the background during the scene with the Joker firing the machine gun at Batman whilst he's on the Batpod. It was damaged at the end of Batman Begins, but the next day Fox is holding a meeting there when Earle walks in, and after 6/8 months when this film takes place I would have thought it would have been repaired.
Answer: A company the size of Wayne Enterprises would have multiple buildings. As much of Bruce's interest revolves around the applied sciences and research and development divisions, he presumably decided to use the building that contained those areas as the company's main base of operations.
Question: Why did everyone have to leave the city? Two boats, one for citizens, one for criminals. Was the entire city rigged to explode?
Answer: No, of course the entire city's not wired up. But the Joker's said that he's going to start killing people - would you stick around for that? Pretty much everybody wants out.
Question: Everyone says how Batman/Bruce Wayne has a darkness to him, but I can't really understand how, seeing how he is trying to do the right thing and save people. Can someone please explain this to me.
Answer: Let's see... There's the trauma of witnessing his parents' murder. There's the guilt he felt with feeling partly responsible for their deaths (if he hadn't gotten scared at the opera, they wouldn't have been in that alley). There's the anger that he never got to exact justice on Joe Chill (someone else took him out before he did). There's the fact he actually *planned* to commit the murder of Joe Chill. And that's all *before* he's Batman. Since donning the suit, he works outside the law, using questionable (and often illegal) methods to do the "right thing" (breaking and entering, assault and battery, destruction, torture, etc.)
Question: What does Bruce Wayne live in, did he rebuild his house that burned down in Batman Begins?
Question: When the Joker's body is brought to Gambol, Joker awakens and pushes away two approaching thugs. Are these the same two thugs being held at gunpoint on the ground by the Joker's henchmen? Also, what does the Joker do to Gambol? Gambol falls from Joker's grip as if he's dead, but the Joker's knife was held to Gambol's cheek, not his throat? I have no doubt that the PG-13 rating opens this to interpretation.
Answer: Gambol is clearly killed, likely having had his throat cut while the camera was on the others in the room. Had we seen the actual cut, the film would have been stuck with an 'R' rating. As for the two thugs, it's a bit vague - I thought it looked like the Joker stabbed them, meaning the two on the ground are two others, but everything happens a bit too fast to be sure.
Question: When Dent first meets Alfred at the fundraiser, he says, "You've known Rachel her whole life?" Alfred replies, "Not yet." Was this an intentional attempt to foreshadow Rachel's death?
Answer: Principally it's intended as Alfred making a small joke, but it's certainly an ironic one given subsequent events. As for the precise intent, the only ones who could confirm that are the scriptwriters.
Question: Is there any reason why Batman lets The Joker live in this movie, but lets Ra's al Ghul die in Batman Begins? It would seem The Joker represents a greater threat, having escaped already once.
Question: Why did Maroni survive being dropped 3 stories by Batman, but Harvey Dent did not?
Answer: It all depends on how you land. Maroni landed on his legs, which would break them, but wouldn't necessarily be life-threatening. We don't know how Dent landed - he could easily have just broken his neck on impact or something.
Question: This question probably is insignificant but I was just wondering - why didn't Rachel want to be with Bruce, and choose Harvey over him? Did she love him more and not love Bruce anymore? And did she really die at the end? I know she probably did but I thought maybe there was a chance she survived? Thank you.
Answer: Bruce has a darkness to him - she says in the first film that she can't be with him while Batman exists. Then Dent appears on the scene and has the same drive for justice that she and Bruce do, but goes about it in a much more open fashion - it's not that she doesn't care about Bruce any more, it's simply that Dent is a man that she can be with, which Bruce isn't. Then, when Bruce fails to hand himself in, letting Dent pretend to be Batman instead, she feels that Bruce is in the wrong and that basically ends it for her - she still cares, but it pushes her into finally making her choice to be with Dent. As for her death, there's no indication whatsoever in the film that she survived the explosion.
Question: Two questions: First, why didn't Dent kill the Joker in the hospital? Okay, he left it up to chance with a coin flip. But the coin was double-sided! So after all the agony, and all the crime busting Dent has been through and achieved, why let the Joker live? Secondly, and this is a pretty major thing, how is it the Joker knows every move that either Batman or the Police/Commissioner Gordon, etc., makes or has planned? It literally seemed like no matter what Batman did, the Joker correctly predicted his move and was already one step in front of the Batman. That seems a little ridiculously impossible to me, unless the Joker is one smart smart con man. Anyone else realize this?
Answer: Harvey's coin isn't identical on both sides any more. One side is pristine, one side is damaged (scratched and scorched), so it's truly a fair coin flip now. Joker persuaded Harvey to leave it to chance - the coin came up undamaged so Joker lives. As for predicting their moves, that's precisely the point - they are predictable, because they live their lives according to rules, laws and ethics. Joker, as an agent of chaos, has the edge over them because he doesn't. He's smart enough to know that people react in predictable ways in particular situations. So it's not that he has some mystical ability to know ahead of time what people will do, he just anticipates the most likely course of action and prepares something to counter that course of action ahead of time.
Answer: No, he definitely doesn't intend to kill Dent - at that point, he can't dismiss the possibility that Dent could be Batman, who he wants to keep alive because it's just more fun that way. The convoy chase is, at least, in part, designed to draw Batman out - Joker knows that, if Dent isn't Batman, there's no way that the Caped Crusader wouldn't intervene in a situation like that. If Batman doesn't show, then, in all probability, Dent is Batman and Joker can focus on him. Batman shows up, thus eliminating Dent from consideration, allowing the Joker to go to the next stage of his plan, the kidnapping scenario.
Tailkinker ★