Question: Why does Joker say he doesn't have a plan, when he does?
MikeH
6th Sep 2020
The Dark Knight (2008)
Answer: He is a highly functional and highly intelligent psychopath. In the comic book universe, there is a saying about the Joker, "Always expect the unexpected."
22nd Feb 2017
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: Why did Gordon say he wanted Lau alive but The Joker either way? Shouldn't they try to take them both alive and only kill them if they resisted?
Chosen answer: Because Lau has information about the mob, the battle against which is still the first priority of the Gotham Police Department; the Joker is, as Harvey Dent later says, a mad dog let off the leash. Gordon isn't telling his officers to murder the Joker in cold blood, he's simply saying that Lau is more important to them, and he would rather have him for further questioning/testimony.
3rd Feb 2017
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: If The Joker wanted to get arrested, instead of engaging in a huge chase with the police where he shoots at them with a machine gun and an RPG, why didn't he just walk into the police station and turn himself in? I know he's theatrical, but he's very lucky he wasn't shot, which would've ruined his plan.
Chosen answer: Because the police would have suspected something if he just turned himself in out of the blue, and would have been more vigilant in looking for a trap. As it is, the police are convinced they legitimately captured Joker and derailed his plans with no further need to be on the lookout for unexpected surprises from him.
23rd Jan 2017
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: Is it just me, or did Heath Ledger seem much shorter in The Dark Knight than he did in his other movies? If so, how did they do it?
Chosen answer: One of his character traits as the Joker is his hunched posture. He's not standing fully upright.
12th Jul 2016
The Dark Knight (2008)
16th Mar 2016
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: When Gordon faked his death, many people think he faked getting shot, but if you look closely you'll see he really was shot. So how did he fake his death? He would've needed to go to hospital.
Chosen answer: Gordon is a smart man. He knew for sure that someone was going to try to kill the mayor so he hatched a plan just in case that went down. Since we see blood, it could be assumed that he was wearing a bulletproof vest with a fake blood pouch to make it seem more realistic. Some other officers knew about this plan, so they were more than likely the ones that transported him away quickly before anyone could see that he was faking.
28th Jul 2015
The Dark Knight (2008)
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.
5th Mar 2015
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: How can you die instantly from a small quick cut to the cheek?
Chosen answer: Because the camera cuts away before we see the slash, we don't know how ferocious the Joker cuts him. Mind you, the knife was halfway inside his mouth and it did seem like a deep cut, so he possibly died due to the knife slashing an essential artery or vessel.
5th Mar 2015
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: Why couldn't both Harvey and Rachel be saved?
Chosen answer: There was not enough time. Only the Batmobile was fast enough to save one of them, hence the police being late to the other location. The Joker made sure one would die.
Assuming they sent all the other units to find Dent (Rachel instead), wouldn't it have been helpful and faster to send some cop patrolling near that location to save her? As fast as Batman was with his technology, another cop who might have been close to the location could have gotten there in time I would guess. Or am I missing something?
I think several things are in play (but me speculating). First, the cops were busy trying to safeguard Dent and then apprehend the Joker. Think Die Hard 3 were all the cops were so busy "you could steal City Hall." So while there might be some cops on patrol, not close enough. But given the level of precision in Joker's plan, it seemed like the explosion was going to go off when the cops got there, so even if they got there sooner, the place would still explode.
But I will admit that the Joker's "precision" really seems to be sheer dumb luck that we're suppose to accept as his criminal mastermind plan.
Yes, it could be indeed or maybe like Nolan said: Joker is a mysterious unstoppable force (resourceful one at that) that suddenly appeared. Gotham's extreme corruption at the time allowed for a psychotic (or anarchist if you will) one like Joker to play his cards with more freedom as well, which I think some people forget to consider. In that sense, Bane had to do things differently because the aforementioned aspect was highly reduced after TDK events.
True. With many things at play, possible situations and Joker's preparation, there can be multiple reasons why everything happened the way it did (the film makes a wise decision to not over explain this and leave it to imagination), specially because Joker most likely wanted one of them to die, or they would have both died anyway since explosion occurred either way. Based on everything Joker did, maybe it was always supposed to be Rachel. He wanted to make a point with Dent and Bats after all.
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Answer: The Joker repeatedly lies throughout the film to keep his enemies confused. In this instance, it would be risky for him to tell Harvey that it was his goal all along to corrupt him, so he instead tells him he has had no plan.
Phaneron ★