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 (As well as shoving and detonating a smoke grenade into his mouth). 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 from mob boss Maroni 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’ and the Police have their own nickname for him. 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 the combined effort of Harvey Dent, Batman and Gordon 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 half their money, and also tries to convince them that Lau will give them all up to the police if he is caught. The mob bosses don't take 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 and agree to pay the Joker half of their money in return for helping them. 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, Commissioner Loeb, Judge Surillo and Harvey Dent. He succeeds in killing Loeb (via acid) and Surillo (via a car bomb) and then he goes after Dent.

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 by Bruce 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 he goes to Rachel and assumes he is Dent's main squeeze (right after threatening a guest that, according to him, resembles his hated father), Batman eventually arrives and takes on the Joker and his henchmen. Eventually the confrontation ends with the Joker escaping by dropping Rachel out the building while Batman saves her life.

The next day, at a public service memorial for the late Commissioner, the Joker, disguised as a military official (The Joker and his henchmen stripped the actual Ceremonial arms of their uniforms, as well as tied them up, blindfolded and gagged them in his room prior to the funeral), 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. After seeing the thug's name tag which read "OFFICER DACHEL DAWES", Dent calls Rachel and tells her that the Joker has named her next, and to go to anyone she can trust, which turns out to be Bruce. 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 approaching Batmobile causing it to crash. Here, Batman takes on his ‘secondary’ transportation, the Batpod which bursts out of the side of the damaged Batmobile. Batman successfully causes the Joker's truck to stop by flipping it over. But as the Joker stands in the middle of the road yelling "HIT ME", Batman is forced to crash in order to avoid killing the Joker (honoring his no kill policy) and lays wounded on the ground. Suddenly, Gordon, who faked his death and had been driving Dent's transportation van, sneaks up behind the Joker and arrests him.



Harvey Dent is released and applauded by the press for his bravery before driven home by Detective Wuerz. Gordon is promoted to commissioner by Mayor Garcia for his efforts. With the Joker in custody, everything seems to be safe. Unfortunately, a bit later, it is revealed that Harvey Dent never made it home. When questioned as to what he did to him, the Joker hints that Detective Wuerz was the one responsible for Dent's Predicament (which later turns out to be true.), then Commissioner Gordon leaves the Joker at Batman's hands. Batman then interrogates the Joker in a brutal fashion until the Joker intentionally 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. Alfred reads the letter Rachel left which says that she is going to marry Harvey and can't wait anymore for Bruce. He was going to give it to Bruce but seeing him in grief he decides not to Bruce feels guilty for the death of Rachel and for what has happened to Dent stating he is "Gotham's true hero" and Alfred tells him that Gotham will have to make do with Batman, Bruce also stated that he knew Rachel would have waited for him to stop being Batman and they would have been together. In Gotham general hospital, Dent is driven to madness over the loss of Rachel, which he blames on Batman, Gordon and the Joker. When Gordon asks if he knew who took him captive he asks him why would he listen to him now and then demands what was the nickname the cops gave him which Gordon reveals to be Harvey "Two face" and Harvey then says "Why should I hide what I am?".

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, Joker arrives disguised as a Nurse to corrupt Harvey Dent. 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 (Also, Harvey decides the Joker's fate with his half scarred double head coin. While not shown in the movie, it's implied that Joker got the clean side of the coin). Harvey leaves and the Joker blows up the hospital.



While "Harvey Two-Face" confronts the corrupt cops and the mobsters one by one, flipping his coin to decide their fates, the Joker burns Lau at the top of the clown's share of mob money and double-crosses the mob telling them "this city deserves a better class of criminal and I'm gonna give it to to them". The Joker then declares on T.V that he will rule the streets and that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule. Eventually the city attempts to leave, although, all road ways and bridges have been cut off due to the Joker's threat. However, two ferries remain and each one becomes full. One carries criminals that worked for the mob 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 but warns them that unless a decision is made, he will blow up both ferries at midnight. Using the help of his ‘sonar-vision’ and Lucius 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 and forces him to watch as midnight approaches but nothing happens as neither the citizens or the convicts are willing to kill the other. The Joker looks on in confusion as Batman askes him "What were you trying to prove, that deep down, everyone’s as ugly as you? You’re alone."

The Joker is unphased by this remark and pulls out a dentonator preparing to blow up both ships. However, he is caught off guard when Batman projects the steel spikes at the Joker causing him to release his grip on Batman and the dentonator. Then being thrown over the edge of the building, yet saved by Batman’s grappling wire, the Joker hangs upside down. Elsewhere Dent forces a police officer into getting Gordons's Family out of their home and lead them to him, Dent phones and tells Gordon of the situation. When Gordon asks where his family is Dent replies "Where my family died." . As Gordon arrives at the place where Rachel died Two Face beats down Gordon and Dent is angry to see cops outside the building, Gordon tells him that they only know their is a situation and know nothing about what is happening. Dent then decides to kill Gordon's son and stands at the edge of the building.

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. Batman leaves to find Harvey while the swat team moves in and arrests the Joker. Batman finds Dent, along with Gordon's family, at the building where Rachel died. He tells Dent not to hurt the boy so Dent judges those people he believes are responsible for Rachel's death who were Batman, Gordon and Dent himself. 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 and seeing it as that everyone will have a 50/50 chance just like Rachel. Two-Face flips for (The Bad side) and Batman shoots Batman in the stomach. He flips the coin again to decide his own fate (The Good side), but before he can determine the boy's fate, Batman tackles him (survived Dent's shot due to his body armor) over the side of the building, saving Gordon's son.

As Dent lies dead from a broken neck, Batman and Gordon decide that the Joker would win if anyone found out about Dent's corruption and madness because people would lose hope. Batman convinces Gordon to tell Gotham that himself not Dent committed the murders in order to preserve Dent's image as Gotham’s ‘White Knight’ and to give the city hope, Gordon refuses to do so and Batman tells him that he will be anything to bring hope to Gotham and gives him a radio to send the police on him. Batman runs away into the night.

As Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal in-front of the police and the press, a manhunt is issued for Batman. Alfred burns the note Rachel left knowing that Bruce will be heartbroken if he reads it and Lucius destroys the 'sonar vision' machine Batman used to capture Joker using the password, his name and Gotham has a funeral for the "White Knight". 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 take it. He is the hero the city deserves, but not the one it needs right now. He is the watchful protector; the silent guardian; the 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
 * Colin McFarlane as Gillian Loeb
 * Chin Han ad Mr. Lau
 * Michael Jai White as Gambol
 * Ritchie Coster as The Chechen
 * Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni
 * Sarah Jayne Dunn as Sal Maroni's Mistress
 * Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow

Individuals

 * Batman/Bruce Wayne
 * The Joker
 * Two-Face/Harvey Dent
 * Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane
 * Lt. James Gordon
 * Alfred Pennyworth
 * Rachel Dawes
 * Lucius Fox
 * Sal Maroni
 * Commissioner Gillian Loeb
 * Judge Janet Surillo
 * Mike Engel
 * Coleman Reese
 * Manager of Gotham National Bank
 * The Chechen
 * Gambol
 * Lau
 * Wilmer Rossi
 * Grumpy
 * Chuckles
 * Happy
 * Dopey
 * The Joker's bus driver
 * The Joker's truck driver
 * The Joker's black bounty hunter
 * The Joker's white bounty hunter
 * Barbara Gordon
 * James Gordon, Jr.
 * Gordons' Daughter
 * Detective Anna Ramirez
 * Detective Michael Wuertz
 * Brian Douglas
 * Anton
 * Gerard Stephens
 * Detective Murphy
 * Thomas Schiff
 * Kilson
 * Ginty
 * Sergeant Raphael Mayer
 * Berg
 * Jeremy Polk
 * Willy Davis
 * Grogan
 * McFarland
 * Kirk Packer
 * Ronald Coburgh
 * Natascha
 * Sal Maroni's Mistress
 * Matilda
 * Richard Patterson
 * Raymond Patterson
 * Patrick Harvey
 * Richard Dent
 * Melvin White (mentioned only)
 * Burmese Bandit (mentioned only)
 * The Joker's Father (mentioned only)
 * The Joker's Mother (mentioned only)
 * The Joker's Wife (mentioned only)

Organizations

 * Gotham City Police Department
 * GCPD Major Crimes Unit
 * The Joker's Thugs
 * Sal Maroni's Thugs
 * The Chechen's Thugs
 * Gambol's Thugs
 * Lau's Thugs
 * Batman Impersonators
 * Batmen

Vehicles

 * Tumbler
 * Bat-pod
 * Bruce Wayne's MV Augusta Brutale 1078
 * Bruce Wayne's Lamborghini Murciélago LP640
 * Korean Smugglers' C-130 cargo plane

Technology

 * High Technology Bat-suit
 * Grappling Hook
 * Grapple Gun
 * Folded Cape
 * Batsignal

Weapons

 * Batarang
 * Sticky Bomb Launcher
 * Pneumatic Mangler
 * Ceramic .28 Caliber
 * Flick Knife

Locations

 * Bruce Wayne's Penthouse
 * Wayne Enterprises
 * Gotham National Bank
 * Gotham General Hospital
 * Prewitt Building
 * Thomasina Arms
 * The Ocelot
 * Lou's Bar
 * China
 * The Joker's Hideout
 * Mob Hideout

Events
The Joker's Robbery of Gotham National Bank

Miscellanea

 * The Chechen's rottweilers
 * Skyhook
 * Gotham Times
 * GCTV

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 Dark Knight is also based of The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.



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". Soon after, a mimmick site appeared called IBelieveinHarveyDentToo. It showed a Jokerized version of Harvey Dent's campaign poster. Little by little, the pixels deminished into the first official photo of the Joker. Joker then set up a website called WhySoSerious.com, where he left updates on his reccent criminal activity and interactive games.

The Dark Knight Novel
Main Article: The Dark Knight (Book)

The Dark Knight Video Game
Main Article: The Dark Knight (Video Game)

The Dark Knight Soundtrack
Main Article: The Dark Knight (soundtrack)

DVD
The Dark Knight DVD and Blu-Ray will be released December 9, 2008. Versions include:
 * DVD Single Disc.
 * DVD 2-Disc Steelbook.
 * Blu-Ray.
 * Blu-Ray with the Joker cover.
 * Blu-Ray 2-Disc set with Bat-Pod stand.
 * A special DVD package will come with a graphic novel of the film.

Deleted scenes
Following rumors that as with the DVD release for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight will not include any deleted scenes, which scenes may have been in the shooting script but unfilmed, filmed but cut, or developed by the novelization's author, Denny O'Neil, will remain ambiguous and left to speculation until official word comes from the film makers. The following are just a few of the known examples:


 * Numerous alternate takes, notably differences of Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker between the film and its trailers.
 * A great deal of backstory for Harvey Dent, including his parents, Harry and Lucy, and how Harvey came to meet Rachel.
 * The Joker, while posing as Bozo before his robbery of Gotham National Bank, stood on the sidewalk waiting for his men to pick him up. An elderly woman stood near him and he slipped her a hundred dollar bill, either to walk away or keep silent about seeing him there.
 * The Chechen had a lackey named Burton who told him about Scarecrow, and set up the meeting for them.
 * Scarecrow sold his drug to a junkie for little money, then after he took the drug was killed by Scarecrow, with the intention of learning its effects.
 * Apparently originally a knife held the note to Brian Douglas' chest, but an alternate scene was filmed showing the note held by a pin.
 * Following the charity event in Bruce's penthouse, the following scene takes place: The Joker looked back toward the penthouse as his getaway car sped away. He breathed hard, exhilirated even as a stream of blood ran down his face. He smacked the back of the driver's seat. Driver: "What do we do about Dent?" The Joker: "I'm a man of my word."
 * Instead of saying he's going after Rachel, Batman said "Dent knew the risks."
 * Rachel's last words before dying: "Bruce. Harvey. I love you."
 * Gordon made it clear that the Joker switched the locations of Rachel and Harvey in his directions.

Quotes

 * "He thinks he can sit out and still take a slice? I know why they call him "the Joker"." - Grumpy
 * "I believe what dosen't kill you simply makes you...stranger." - the Joker
 * "I said my compound would take you places. I never said they'd be places you wanted to go." - Scarecrow
 * "Ha ha ho ho hee hee a-ha. And I thought my jokes were bad." - the Joker
 * "Do you want to see a trick?" - the Joker
 * "I can always tell the squeelers, and -" - the Joker
 * "You wanna know how I got these scars?" - the Joker
 * "Why so serious?" - the Joker
 * "Let's put a smile on that face." - the Joker
 * "I make my own luck." - Dent
 * "Heads, you keep yours. Tails - not so lucky." - Dent
 * "Endure. You could be the outcause, you could make the choice that no one else will face. The right choice. Gotham needs you." - Alfred Pennyworth
 * "You remind me of my father. I hate my father." - the Joker
 * "Let me get this straight: You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands. And your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck." - Lucius Fox
 * "I little fight in ya, I like that." "Then you're gonna love me." - the Joker and Batman
 * "You know that day you once told me about, when Gotham would no longer need Batman? It's coming." - Bruce Wayne
 * "Come on, I want you to do it, I want you to do it. Come on, hit me. Hit me!" - the Joker
 * "To them you're just a freak...like me." - the Joker
 * "Do you wanna know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the little emotions. In, you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?" - the Joker
 * "It's all part of the plan." - the Joker
 * "This city deserves a better class of criminal." - the Joker
 * "It's a funny world we live in. Speaking of which, do you know how I got these scars?" "No! But I know how you got these." - the Joker and Batman
 * "You just couldn't let me go could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you, because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever." "You'll be in a padded cell forever." "Maybe we can share one. They'll be doubling up, the rate this city's inhabitants are losing their minds." - the Joker and Batman
 * "I took Gotham's white knight, and brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. Y'see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little...push. Ahahahaha!" - the Joker
 * "Sometimes, truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded." - Batman
 * "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now... and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector... a dark knight." - Gordon