The Dark Knight (film)

''This article is about the film. For the caped crusader nicknamed "The Dark Knight", see Batman.''

The Dark Knight is the 2008 sequel to the 2005 release, Batman Begins, which rebooted the Batman franchise after an eight-year drought. Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins, continues as the director of the sequel, which stars Christian Bale again as Batman and the late Heath Ledger as the Joker. The Dark Knight was released July 18, 2008 in the United States.

Plot
The film begins with the disguised Joker and various clown masked henchmen robbing a mob-owned bank, and systematically double crossing each other. Eventually the only one remaining is the disguised Joker, who reveals himself to the bank owner and then takes the money for himself and drives away in a school bus. That night, multiple Batman impersonators, armed with guns, interrupt a drug deal/meeting between the Chechen and his gangsters and the Scarecrow. The real Batman shows up and manages to subdue everyone. However, he is hit multiple times and is brutally bitten in weak spots of his armor by Rottweiler dogs. Sustaining such injuries suffered during the confrontation force him to make the decision of acquiring a new, more versatile suit of armor.

With the rise of Criminal Underworld, D.A. Harvey Dent begins to place more and more criminals behind bars, even manages to defend himself against an assassination attempt by knocking out his would-be assassin. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon contemplate bringing Dent in on their plan to eradicate the mob, and the possibility that Dent will become the hero to the people that Batman cannot be. Harvey is nicknamed the ‘White Knight of Gotham’. At the same time, Bruce Wayne and Harvey are both competing for the love of Rachel Dawes; however, Dawes and Dent are romantically involved in a relationship.

The mob bosses see this combined effort of Harvey Dent, Batman and Gotham City Police as a threat and decide to meet to discuss how to handle it. A Chinese mobster accountant, Lau, lets the gang leaders know that he has taken their money to Hong Kong to prevent the police and the district attorney from seizing it in an imminent bank raid. The Joker arrives and proposes to kill Batman for them, and also tries to convince them that Lau will give them all up to the police if he is caught. The mob bosses are not sure if they should take up the Joker’s offer, who leaves his ‘card’ behind for them to contact him. Realizing the threat and the need of taking down Lau and finding the mob bosses money, Wayne is given highly more adjustable and maneuverable equipment for his suit by Lucius Fox. Also included in Batman’s new armor is a new designed helmet, allowing Wayne’s head to turn and arm gauntlets that are able to project the defense spikes. Taking the suit with him, Fox then travels with Mr. Wayne to Hong Kong and gives Wayne a sonar-device that can lock onto cell phones and emit a visual image of the phone’s surroundings. That night Batman, donning his new suit, manages to infiltrate Lau’s office, take out the protection and escape with Lau. After Batman successfully returns to Gotham he delivers Lau to the Gotham City police. Lau makes a deal with the D.A. and Attorney Rachel Dawes to give the name of all of his clients in return for being placed on county watch. The mob bosses are all placed under arrest. However, a few mobsters manage to evade the prison system. They then agree to pay the Joker half of their money in return for killing Batman. The Joker broadcasts a message to all of Gotham stating that if the Batman does not turn himself in to the police, then he will kill innocent people every day. The Joker gives various clues as to who he plans on killing next and begins murdering public officials, including Commissioner Loeb and a city official judge.

At a fund raising party thrown for Dent by Bruce, Harvey asks Rachel, in a private area, if she will marry him. Before she can give a full answer Harvey is locked in a room just as the Joker interrupts the party, wanting to know where Harvey is so that he can kill him. When the Joker cannot find Dent, Batman eventually arrives and takes on the Joker. The Joker and Batman square off along with the Joker’s henchmen. Eventually the confrontation ends with Batman saving the life of Rachel Dawes. The next day, at a public service memorial for the late Commissioner, the Joker, disguised as a military official, shoots at the mayor of the city. But at the last moment Jim Gordon jumps in front of him getting shot in the chest, yet saving the mayor. Dent manages to capture and interrogate a thug working for the Joker. However, his interrogation is interrupted by Batman. Realizing what is happening, Wayne, disguised as Batman, states to Dent that he needs to reveal who he truly is in order to save Gotham and stop the killings. At a press conference the next day, held by Dent, Wayne is about to step forth but before he can do so, Dent publicly admits to being "the Batman" to draw the Joker out of hiding. Rachel is upset with Bruce not interfering and admitting that Harvey is not Batman and that he is. She leaves Alfred a note to give to Bruce ‘when the time is right’. Arrested and in route to re-location, Harvey’s transport is ambushed by the Joker and a semi-rig full of his henchmen and thugs. The Joker attempts to kill Dent during transport, and using a rocket launcher, hits the Batmobile causing it to burst into flames. Here, Batman takes on his ‘secondary’ transportation, the Batpod which bursts out of the side of the damaged Batmobile. Batman gets wounded during this second confrontation as the Joker approaches. Suddenly, Gordon, who faked his death, sneaks up behind him and arrests him.

Gordon is promoted to commissioner. With the Joker in custody, Batman interrogates the Joker in a brutal fashion until he reveals that Rachel and Dent have been taken to opposite sides of the city, far-enough apart that Batman does not have time to save both of them. Batman speeds off to save Rachel, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. Unknown to them, the Joker has switched the locations, sending Batman after Dent and Gordon after Rachel. Realizing the situation, Rachel and Harvey, tied to chairs, are able to communicate through a phone. The two reassure each other that everything will be okay as Dent attempts to escape but fails and falls and his left side is immersed in oil. The Joker provokes a police-officer to take him on and manages to hold him as a hostage and walk out of the room and into the main lobby. Then, with the help of a pre-planted phone bomb, the Joker escapes with Lau in tow. Rachel tells Harvey that she will marry him just as Batman arrives at the location that was supposed to be Rachel’s location and rescues Dent. Then both buildings explode; the left side of Dent's face is burned during the explosion. Gordon does not reach Rachel in time; she dies in the explosion. In the hospital, Dent is driven to madness over the loss of Rachel, which he blames on Batman, Gordon and the Joker. The Joker publicly states that he no longer cares about killing the Batman because he is ‘too much fun’ and that if the Wayne employee, Mr. Reese, who supposedly knows who Batman really is, is not killed to prevent the secret from slipping, then he will blow up a hospital. All hospitals begin immediate evacuation. At Gotham General, Harvey, unable to move due to bed restraints, is convinced by the Joker to exact revenge on the cops, mobsters, Gordon and Batman for killing his love. Harvey leaves and the Joker blows up the hospital.

While "Harvey Two-Face" confronts the corrupt cops and the mobsters one by one, flipping a coin to decide their fates(One side is burnt and the other is clear), the Joker burns Lau at the top of the clown's share of mob money. The Joker then declares that he will rule the streets and that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule. He states that if order is to be in Gotham Batman must die. Eventually the city attempts to leave, although, all road ways and bridges have been cut off. However, two ferries remain and each one becomes full. One carries criminals from Arkham and other prisons and the other, regular citizens. The Joker plants explosives on the two ferries of evacuees and gives the passengers on board the chance to destroy the opposing vessel, in order to save their own lives. Using the help of his ‘sonar-vision’ and Lucious Fox, Batman tracks the Joker to an uncompleted skyscraper. Batman takes down the henchmen, disguised as hostages, and takes down the SWAT team from killing the innocent citizens, forced to dress like henchmen. The Joker and Batman have one final confrontation. The Joker sends Rottweiler dogs at Batman, who manages to get rid of them. However, Batman is repeatedly hit by the Joker, who uses a steel pipe. The Joker manages to subdue Batman but eventually, is caught off guard when Batman projects the steel spikes at the Joker causing him to release his grip on Batman. Then being thrown over the edge of the building, yet saved by Batman’s grappling wire, the Joker hangs upside down as Batman prevents the Joker from blowing up the ferries when both vessels' occupants decide they would rather not sacrifice the lives of the passengers in the other vessel for their own. Elsewhere Dent forces an police officer into getting Gordons's Family out of their home and lead them to him, the officer tells Gordon about the situation but is interrupted by Dent. Dent then tells Gordon where he and his family is by telling him he is "Where my family died." .

Remaining upside down, the Joker acknowledges that Batman really is incorruptible, but that Dent was not, and that he has unleashed Harvey's madness upon the city. Convinced to extract his final revenge, Two-Face has beaten down Gordon and Batman finds the two, along with Gordon's family, at the building where Rachel died. Two-Face proceeds to judge Batman, himself, and Gordon's son through the chance of a coin flip, which he sees as the only fairness left in the world. Two-Face shoots Batman in the stomach, but before he can determine the boy's fate, Batman tackles him over the side of the building, saving Gordon's son. As Dent lies motionless on the ground, Batman and Gordon decide that the Joker would win if anyone found out about Dent's corruption and madness. Batman convinces Gordon to let him take all the blame for Dent's murders in order to preserve Dent's image as Gotham’s ‘White Knight’ and to give the city hope. As Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal, a manhunt is issued for Batman. Gordon’s son does not understand the reasoning for why Batman must be hunted and has returned to the status of ‘illegal vigilante’ as his father states that he must be, because he can endure it and that he is “Gotham’s ‘Dark Knight”.

Cast and Characters

 * Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman
 * Heath Ledger as The Joker
 * Aaron Eckhart as '''Harvey Dent / Two-Face
 * Gary Oldman as James Gordon
 * Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes
 * Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox

Production
Before the release of Batman Begins, screenwriter David S. Goyer had written a treatment for two sequels, introducing the Joker and Harvey Dent. On July 31, 2006, Warner Bros. Pictures officially announced the initiation of production for the sequel, titled The Dark Knight. The title makes The Dark Knight the first live-action Batman film without the word Batman in its title. Christian Bale noted, "This take on Batman of mine and Chris' is very different from any of the others and everything else always had Batman in the title." Christopher Nolan described the sequel's theme as escalation, continuing how Batman Begins ended, with "things having to get worse before they get better." Nolan indicated that The Dark Knight would also continue the themes that Batman Begins had, such as justice vs. revenge and Bruce Wayne's father issues, while Jonathan Nolan has indicated that the film will show more of Batman as a detective.

The story was co-written by Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer, while the Nolan brothers took turns each month to revise the screenplay. The Dark Knight's interpretation of the Joker is based primarily on the character's first two appearances in the Batman comics, as well as Alan Moore's one-shot comic book Batman: The Killing Joke, which was given to Heath Ledger in order to prepare for his role. Jerry Robinson, one of the co-creators of the basic concept for the Joker in the comics, is involved as a consultant on the portrayal of the character. The Nolan brothers were highly secretive, with Christopher Nolan refusing to let Ledger leave his house with a copy of the script.

In October 2006, film location manager Robin Higgs visited Liverpool to scout locations, mainly along the city's waterfront, for filming The Dark Knight. Other scouted locations included Yorkshire, Glasgow, and parts of London. Producer Charles Roven originally stated in August 2006 that principal photography would begin in March 2007, but filming was pushed back to start in April. For its IMAX release, Nolan had four major action sequences, including the Joker's introduction, shot in the format. Nolan admitted he wished he could have shot the entire film in IMAX, and felt, "I figured if you could take an IMAX camera to Mount Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie."

Warner Bros. chose Chicago as a filming location with a plan to film there for 13 weeks, due to Nolan having had a "truly remarkable experience" filming there for part of Batman Begins. The crew shot there from April 18-24 2007 for the film's prologue involving the Joker. The crew returned to shoot there from June 9 2007 to early September. Production of The Dark Knight in Chicago will generate $45 million in the city's economy and create thousands of jobs. According to actor Michael Caine, the film will also be shot in London, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Hong Kong. Hong Kong's walled city of Kowloon had been an influence on the Narrows in Batman Begins.

In an October 2006 interview, composer Hans Zimmer confirmed he and James Newton Howard would be returning to score The Dark Knight, teaming up as they did on Batman Begins. Zimmer said that the main Batman theme was purposely introduced at the end of Batman Begins and be fleshed out in the sequel as the character develops. On January 22 2008, Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, died of an accidental overdose.

Promotion
In May 2007, the studio launched a teaser page for The Dark Knight. Later in the month, a second teaser page was launched, featuring an image from the fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent, portrayed in the film by Aaron Eckhart, that was captioned, "I Believe in Harvey Dent".