The Dark Knight (film): Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men...just want to watch the world burn.''

|'''Alfred Pennyworth'''}}

 

 

A year after the events of ''[[Batman Begins]]'', Batman and his allies -- Police Lieutenant James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent -- achieve real success in taking down Gotham's organized crime when they start hitting them where it hurts: their money. The various mob leaders become so afraid of Batman that when [[The Joker|a scarred psychopath]] [[Monster Clown|in clown makeup]] shows up and offers to make their problems go away by killing Batman, they hire him... but once backed by the mob, he decides that rubbing out Batman isn't good enough. The Joker aims to destroy Gotham City from the inside out, and part of his "plan" involves attempts to corrupt the city's heroes -- Batman and Harvey Dent -- by making their lives hell until they snap...

''The Dark Knight'' has the distinct honor of being the first comic book film to win an acting [[Academy Award]], as the late Heath Ledger won the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance as The Joker.

 

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* [[The Ace]]: Harvey Dent. {{spoiler|[[Broken Ace|At first.]]}} Rifftrax said it best after he punches a witness who pulls a gun on him, unloads the gun, states the model and manufacturer before placing the weapon in front of the man who wanted him dead, essentially tells him to try harder next time, and then says he's not finished with the witness:

** There's also how quickly and shamelessly Joker murders his own henchmen, but he's probably not as likely to suffer consequences for doing so. It also should be noted that the Bank manager, who himself is implied to be a member of the mafia, [[Even Evil Has Standards|disapproved of and lamented the course its taken]].

* [[Combat Sadomasochist]]: The Joker loves to inflict pain and suffering, but also seems to like being at the receiving end, particularly in the scene where he is beaten up by Batman and in the (in)famous "come on, hit me" episode.

* [[Comic Book Movies Don't Use Codenames]]: {{spoiler|The name "Two-Face" is only uttered once, when Harvey remembers that cops used to call him "Harvey Two-Face" when he worked for internal affairs}}.

* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: Done intentionally by Lucius Fox.

* [[Genre Shift]]: ''The Dark Knight'' has much more in common with crime dramas and [[Thriller|thrillers]] than with straight-up superhero films, and it abandons the elements of adventure and mysticism that ''[[Batman Begins]]'' used heavily.

* [[Get Into Jail Free]]: The Joker does this in order to kidnap Lau to make him reveal where the mobsters' money is.

* [[Glasgow Grin]]: [[The Joker]].

* [[Godzilla Threshold]]: this is essentially what [[The Joker]] is for this version of Gotham's criminal underworld, unfortunately for everyone involved, no one was quite prepared it. Alfred summarily lampshades:

* [[The Unfettered]]: The Joker.

* [[Unflinching Walk]]: {{spoiler|Lucius Fox}}.

* [[Unhand Them, Villain!]]: The Joker does this to Rachel when Batman tells him to let her go. She happens to be hanging halfway out a window.

{{quote|'''Joker''': Very poor choice of words!}}

 

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