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: At this point, what proof does Gordon have? The text message that you speak of points out Ramirez and Berg as people who have relatives in the hospital, nothing more. Berg wasn't necessarily a crooked cop, he was just pushed to the edge when he tried to kill Reese because he wanted to ensure his wife's safety. You can see in the moments leading up to it that he's having a really hard time with this. Coincidentally Ramirez's mother was indeed in the hospital, and Ramirez took bribes to help with the Medical bills. To my recollection, Gordon has nothing linking Ramirez to the explosion of the hospital.
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?
Chosen 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: In the hospital scene, where the Joker has the gun to his head and Harvey Dent flips the coin, apparently it was heads because the Joker didn't get killed. But what if it landed on tails? Would the Joker just let himself get killed?
Answer: Yep. He's betting everything, including his own life, on the flip of a coin. He's already won, he's already dragged Harvey down from being Gotham City's great white hope for justice to being a man who's willing to kill on the flip of a coin. The Joker puts the gun in Harvey's hand and places it against his own forehead where he couldn't possibly get away if Harvey chose to pull the trigger - he knows full well what he's risking. But he's already proved his point, that anybody can fall from grace - if it takes his own death to push Harvey deeper into madness, then that's fine with him, because he's already won. If he lives, so much the better, but he's prepared to put his fate in the hands of random probability, into the hands of the chaos that he worships. That said...he's also holding the hammer back on the revolver, so even if the trigger was pulled the gun wouldn't fire. So he's not risking that much...
Question: How was Batman able to get to Harvey Dent faster than police to Rachel? I mean, I can think Bat's technology being way faster of course. But for example: if all units were sent to Rachel's location, there might have been some units patrolling near her location so it would have been faster to have them go there first. Right? What other possibilities am I not considering?
Answer: I honestly think within the context of the movie, we are just meant to assume that most units are either at the police station (given a high-profile terrorist suspect - the Joker - and many of his goons were just captured) or still at the scene of the massive chase that just occurred earlier in the night, since there was a lot of destruction or chaos. Thus, there simply wouldn't be any available units closer to Rachel's location. It's a little far-fetched, sure... but it's basic "suspension of disbelief." It's required dramatically for the plot to progress. (Similar to the fact that in the sequel, many of the Gotham City PD got stuck underground by Bane... it's a little far-fetched, but it works for the plot.) Batman was simply able to get to Dent's location faster since he's using the batpod, which is a bit of a technological marvel and can get around much quicker and easier than a police car.
Answer: This could be a plot hole, but I would posit: Given how corrupt/easily corruptible the Gotham police are, it's likely the Joker may have bribed/threatened/otherwise coerced the beat cops to a) steer clear of the areas where he was holding Dent and Rachel, or b) ignore the call to go to that location. You're right that Batman's tech is what allows him to reach Dent faster than Gordon et al. Reach Rachel; the Joker set it up that way, so that whoever Batman saves means the other one dies.
Answer: Batman showed up only a few seconds before the GPD, they arrived as the building blew.
Question: I have a few questions: 1. Did Bruce propose his joint venture just to see if Lau was dirty and have him arrested? 2. Why did Fox come to Hong Kong in person instead of simply calling? 3. Did Fox plan to have his cell phone go off while talking to Lau (and if so, for what reason)?
Answer: 1) Yes, Bruce wanted his people to get a look at Lau's books to see if he was in fact dirty. 2) Fox comes to Hong Kong simply as a ruse to place the EMP device (the fake cell phone). 3) Fox would have no reason to have his real cell phone go off during the meeting. It just happened. This was done to show the audience that the phone he turned in to security was indeed a fake.
Answer: The venture was a ruse to get Fox to meet with Lau. Fox came to Hong Kong in order to plant the phone. The phone he planted allowed Batman to locate Lau in the building so he could kidnap him.
Answer: Denial, plain and simple. Gordon can't accept the fact that someone he trusted so implicitly turned out to be crooked.
Phixius ★