Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Why does Fox tell Batman close to the end, that as long as the sonar machine (don't know the name) is there, he won't be?

Answer: Fox views the sonar machine, which can basically monitor the entirety of Gotham City, as an unacceptable invasion of privacy. He's gone along with Bruce's activities as Batman so far, but this, in his opinion, is overstepping the mark. As such, he tells Bruce that if Bruce keeps the machine, using it to spy on the people of Gotham, then he's no longer willing to work for him.

Tailkinker

Question: Why did Batman ask Lucius to type his name into the sonar machine? And why did he walk away after typing it?

Brad

Chosen answer: It's a destruct code that Bruce set up in advance. He knows that using the machine is going way over the line, ethically speaking, but realises that that's what he has to do to catch the Joker. Fox also recognises the ethical implications of what Bruce is doing - he even threatens to resign over it once the Joker is captured. Bruce simply gives Fox the destruct code to use once the job's done. Fox types it in and walks away as the machine destroys itself.

Tailkinker

Question: Towards the end of the film while Harvey has fallen on the ground and Batman says, "The Joker won", what does he say after that? And what does he mean by this? I watched this in the cinema but was a bit 'distracted' towards the end.

Answer: They say that the Joker "won" because he managed to make Dent, a truly good person, become evil, which would show Gotham that everyone is evil at heart. That everyone is capable of corruption, and that there is no hope to save Gotham. Batman then explains that they have to hide what Dent has done. They need to cover-up the murders he committed and make them look like Batman did them. Dent is a much better symbol for the people than Batman, and Batman knows that if they find out the things he has done, their spirits will be crushed. Batman and Gordon decide they have to make Dent look like the hero and Batman look like the villain in order to keep the people of Gotham fighting for what is right.

Question: I was just wondering if Lucius Fox is still the head of Wayne Enterprises or not? He tells Batman he's resigning because of the sonar machine. Then he says he won't stay as long as the machine is there. But at the end he destroys it. So is he staying or is he gone?

Answer: He's still there. He tells Bruce that he'll allow the machine to be used once, because of the threat of the Joker, but if he keeps it after that, he'll resign. Bruce tells him to type his name in once it's done - Fox does that and realises that Bruce has set up a destruct code in advance, showing that Bruce wasn't happy with the machine either and only set it up out of desperation. With the machine gone, the reason for Fox's intended resignation is gone too. Ergo, he stays.

Tailkinker

Question: This is minor, but it's driving me crazy. Does anyone know why does the Mayor wear heavy eye-liner? I understand that actors wear make-up sometimes but this is very noticeable.

Answer: He doesn't. That's just the way the actor's eyes look. It's seen in everything he does.

JC Fernandez

Chosen answer: It certainly wouldn't have hurt his chances. The makers were looking for somebody who could emulate Reeve's performance, while still making it their own role. Routh fit the bill. As for the physical resemblance, there's only so far that you can go away from a certain look when casting for the role of Superman; obviously Routh and Reeve both fit that look. The distinct facial resemblance was simply a happy bonus.

Tailkinker

Question: Has there been any information as to will happen to Joker's character who was not killed off in the film? Will it be retired or recast?

Answer: At the moment, no, there hasn't. Plans for a third film are only in the very early stages; while Nolan may have a few ideas about what he wants to do, it's highly unlikely that any detailed story proposal exists at this point. In all likelihood, Ledger's death will probably lead to the character's retirement, but, if using the character proves to be necessary for the story that they want to tell, I'm sure that they'll do their best to recast.

Tailkinker

Question: In Angier's final performance Borden watches Angier's duplicate drown in the tank. Does the other Angier still reappear for the audience, and take a bow? They never explain this in the film. If he does take the bow, Borden would never have been accused of murder. If he doesn't take the bow, how does the duplicate know not to do so? The duplicate would have no idea that Borden was below stage.

Answer: Angier always wants to take revenge on Borden as he is the reason behind the death of his wife. He knows that Borden is in the crowd the two times, first time, Olivia suggests Borden to watch the new "Transported Man" trick of Angier, where Borden finds out the trap door in the bottom of the machine, second time, Borden wants to know how Angier flies that distance with in seconds through the trap door. As expected by the Angier in the final play, Borden reaches the back stage where actual Angier is drowning (it is as always actual Angier drowns and the replica of Angier appears at some distance in every performance). So, as per the plan the replica hides to create an impression that Borden intentionally murders Angier. Note: the replica of Angier has the same ability and sense like actual Angier.

Rajesh v

It's never stated whether the "real" Angier drowns or takes the bow, but it's implied that it doesn't matter - as the clone is a perfect copy, they are both "Angier." Angier at one point says, referring to toll the trick has taken on him, that each time he did it, even he himself didn't know whether he would be the man in the box or the prestige. Similarly, when Angier asked Tesla which hat of all the duplicates was his, Tesla replied "They are all your hat."

Answer: No, he does not appear to take a bow. The set-up is as follows: Angier invites the audience on stage to observe the machine, but in reality it is so he can watch for Borden trying to work out the trick. When he sees Borden in the audience, he also knows Borden will not learn anything from the stage, and will go backstage. He then clones himself, and the clone is created with the exact knowledge he had at the time of the cloning, including Borden's presence and the trap the original Angier had set. So the "new" Angier hides away the best he can, letting Borden be framed for the murder of the "original" Angier. Had he appeared, not only would it ruin his plan of framing Borden, but it would also reveal how he had done his trick, and he would not allow any of those to happen, no matter what.

Twotall

Question: Doesn't Batman show up only during the night? If I'm not mistaken, I believe he showed up during the day in the movie, no?

Answer: Batman shows up when he's needed. If that means appearing during the day, that's what he does. While, yes, he generally does his stuff at night, it wouldn't be terribly heroic of him to fail to save somebody or foil a crime just because the sun hadn't gone down yet.

Tailkinker

Question: Why does Batman say he is going after Rachel when Gordon asks him, then go to rescue Harvey Dent? Did the Joker switch the addresses on purpose? But then why didn't Batman show any surprise when he's expecting to find Rachel and finds Dent instead?

Answer: Yes, the Joker switched the addresses on purpose. Batman arguably shows brief surprised when finding Dent, but his expression's hard to read as we're mainly shown Dent's reaction. I'd argue it's intentionally left a bit vague as to whether Batman knew the Joker would lie and intentionally went to the "Rachel" address in order to rescue Dent, or else intented to rescue Rachel but by the time he realised the deception what else could he do?

Paul Brannon

Batman is running on pure emotion at that point, when he learns the locations. There is no way he is going to purposely let Rachel die, no matter what the consequences. This is essentially the love of his life, his soul mate. He is not going to just let her die to save Dent. Joker knew that by the time he gave up the addresses, he would have Batman not thinking. He won't stop and think "Maybe he switched the addresses."

oldbaldyone

Question: I was wondering if I had missed something. Near the end of the film the Joker has rigged the two boats w/explosives, and has said if one of them doesn't destroy the other by midnight, they will both blow up. So, why, at midnight, do they not both blow up? I don't remember seeing the scene where that detonator was found and dismantled. I suppose it could all have been a ruse, and the Joker was certain one of the boats would blow up the other, so he had no need to carry through with his real threat, but then again, earlier in the film, he had talked about how his consistency would be a thing gotham could count on. If he said, for example, he was going to blow up a hospital, then it would happen and people would derive some sort of comfort from that. So what happened with the two boats? And I know the Joker is crazy and might not always act rationally, but this does seem to fly in the face of the character. In fact, it would seem more likely that he would hope neither would destroy the other just so both would explode and there would be more carnage. Can anyone help out?

Answer: He was sure that one boat would blow up the other, but the goodness in the people on the boats showed through and they didn't do it. He pulls out his own detonator (saying something along the lines of "if you want something done properly, do it yourself" and was about to blow them both up when Batman threw him off the building which made him drop the detonator. We didn't see it destroyed, but we can assume it broke when it hit the ground.

Paul Brannon

Answer: That would be the very first episode of Friends, "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate", when Joey tells Rachel that he's an actor, and Chandler makes fun of Joey's stint in a production of Pinocchio.

Super Grover

Question: How is it that nobody would notice a school bus driving out of a broken wall to a bank? People and cars were going by as the bus drove out of the rubble and mangled building as if nothing was out of the ordinary. I know this is Gotham, but wow.

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: Some of the cars would have seen it, but what matters is that the police arriving did not see it. By the time the police start taking statements from people on the street or inside the bank (they would have seen the bus too), the bus would be long gone.

Question: The questions page for this movie says that the Green Goblin's voice, in the first movie, was another personality in Norman Osborn's mind. When Harry sees Norman's apparition in the mirror, is it really Norman, or is it coming from Harry's mind?

Answer: Norman's dead - he died in the first movie. This isn't a ghost, just a hallucination in Harry's mind.

Tailkinker

Question: The minor character of Mr. Reese sounds very similar to the word mysteries, could he be a future Riddler?

Answer: Unless the name Reese is subsequently revealed to be an alias, it's unlikely. The two films so far have been consistent with the comics with regard to the real names of characters; the Riddler's name in the comic universe is Edward Nigma (or Nygma).

Tailkinker

Question: I don't get the joke Chris told Liz in the cabin motel about the Zen master that ordered a hotdog with everything. What was funny?

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: The Zen master tells the hotdog vendor to "Make me one with everything," a pun, of sorts, on the Zen philosophy of becoming one with the universe.

Jean G

Answer: Those were two different swords they had at the end. You can tell because when Broken Sword's weapon hits the sand when he drops it, you can clearly see the tapered point, not a broken edge.

Question: Some group remade the song "Under the Boardwalk," giving it a catchy beat and a faster pace. The music video for this remake was on the original VHS release of Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Who sang that song?

Sarah Van Winkle

Chosen answer: Tom tom club.

Question: After John releases the hostages, we see the woman Rosa go to a police car. When she is asked to comment on John, she calls him a good man and then starts talking in Spanish. I can catch that she calls someone crazy, but I can't understand any of the rest. What is it that she's saying?

Answer: She says, "John Q is a good man. He is unlike the other jerk that hits his wife in the face."

Question: At the end, are John and Sara married? She's wearing a ring, but he is not. Perhaps they're just engaged?

Answer: They are engaged and celebrating the day they met each other.

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