History Headscratchers / TheDarkKnight

At the end of the movie, how did Gordon and batman know that Harvey Dent had killed five people? They seemed completely unaware that Harvey had gone off the deep end until the joker told batman, and that was only just the scene before.

*** The general rule of thumb is that the work pages are for everyone to get a sense of the general details of the work, whether they've seen it or not -- hence, spoilers are used so that the reader can get a sense of what the work's about but are free from being spoiled for any twists or major developments if they haven't seen it. Headscratchers, however, is for more in-depth analysis of the work -- pointing out and filling plot-holes, etc -- and since you can't raise, discuss and analyse plot holes and inconsistencies in-depth without having actually seen the work to start with (otherwise how are you supposed to know what the plot-holes and inconsistencies actually are?), the expectation is that if you're inspired to be on the Headscratchers page, you're familiar enough with the work that spoilers shouldn't be a concern. Especially if you're on the headscratchers page for a single movie (with TV shows there's a bit more leeway, as not everyone might be at the same point). Besides which, this entire thread contained pretty much the same spoilers that the poster above was merely summing up, so getting precious about them with this poster seems a bit odd.

*** The general rule of thumb is that the work pages are for everyone to get a sense of the general details of the work, whether they've seen it or not -- hence, spoilers are used so that the reader can get a sense of what the work's about but are free from being spoiled for any twists or major developments if they haven't seen it. Headscratchers, however, is for more in-depth analysis of the work -- pointing out and filling plot-holes, etc -- and since you can't raise, discuss and analyse plot holes and inconsistencies in-depth without having actually seen the work to start with (otherwise how are you supposed to know what the plot-holes and inconsistencies actually are?), the expectation is that if you're inspired to be on the Headscratchers page, you're familiar enough with the work that spoilers shouldn't be a concern. Especially if you're on the headscratchers page for a single movie (with TV shows there's a bit more leeway, as not everyone might be at the same point).

** Bruce Wayne is footing the bill for the entire Russian ballet troupe to spend several very pleasant and relaxing days on a big boat in beautiful surroundings, doubtlessly with lots of partying and fun along with it. You really think after all that any of them is going to object too strongly if he tells them "Oh, by the way, I have to slip away briefly in this sea-boat for reasons you don't have to worry about, so just sit back, keep sunbathing and if anyone asks, I was here the the whole time" or feel compelled to tell the whole world about it? They probably forgot all about it by the next cocktail.

*** Depends how long the series goes on. If it manages to last as long as JamesBond, sure, of course he will. But most superhero movie series are trilogies (probably for the best, given how well ''SupermanIV'' and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' were received), and if this one follows that pattern it's perfectly reasonable to assume the Joker won't come back.

** It's pure HollywoodScience, but here's the logic behind it: Batman takes the brick with the bullet from the room. He then shoots the same caliber bullet into the same material, with the bullet presumably marked in some way. He then analyzes the bullet ''he'' shot to see how the bullet shattered. He then uses ''that'' data to virtually reconstruct the bullet he found in the wall. From that, he gets the fingerprint from when the bullet was put in the chamber. He takes the fingerprint and matches it in a MagicalDatabase to find the address.\\

****** I disagree - it doesn't necessarily matter how great he was at all. Recasting a character with another actor is irritating even if the actor is just very good. See HarryPotter, of course. (Man, I hate [[FanNickname Angrydore]].) Personally, I think it'd be cool if in the next movie, the Joker wasn't shown, but was manipulating things from the shadows. I mean, [[RuleOfCool wouldn't it be?]]

* I always assumed the Joker had a paid cop/goon watching out for when Batman got on his bike and then set the timer accordingly.

** I honestly think the Joker was being honest when he said he's "not a schemer." He doesn't make plans, he just screws up other people's plans. I don't think he 'timed' anything, he just improvised. My evidence for this is his use of the glass shard to take Stevens hostage. How could he know he'd have access to a shard of glass? The whole thing was just half IndyPloy, half XanatosGambit. All he knew going in was that he did in fact have both Harvey and Rachel tied up, with a bomb set to blow them both up. If Batman never shows up, he sends cops after both of them, further reducing the amount of cops in the building. If he doesn't think he can set off his bomb, he just uses his hostages to force the police to let him go. When Batman showed up, he decided to use his hostages to get rid of the Bat and the cops. He switched the addresses so that whatever choice Batman made would be wrong; and if Batman had showed up too late to save Harvey, that would have been fine. If he'd saved them both, that wouldn't have mattered either. The only thing he needed to do was get out of jail with Lau, and even then he wouldn't have cared too much if the explosion had just killed Lau. Or him. Or both. The point is: the Joker didn't have a meticulous plan to turn Harvey into Two-Face; he just wanted to cause as much chaos as possible and the whole situation was simply him seizing opportunities to do so.

** Because people don't ''get'' that he will screw them no matter what. The whole reason the Joker is able to seize power and cause so much damage is because no one can even ''comprehend'' the Joker's utter lack of interest in little things like money, power, respect or even just staying alive. The mob assumes the Joker won't screw them because he wants their money. The regular people of Gotham assume that if they do what the Joker says, he'll leave them alone since that's how it always works with these mob types. The mob, the citizens, the cops and Batman have trouble even beginning to imagine that the Joker doesn't want or fear ''anything'', because ''everything'', especially human suffering, is just a joke. They all assume he's like everyone else, and many think that means they can find things to hold over his head. It becomes clearer and clearer that the Joker has no agenda and is just a crazy sadistic asshole, but by the end of the film, it's too late to do anything about it.

** Those were pretty high-caliber bolt-action rifles. Can anyone identify them? And I'll presume teflon-coated rounds... this is the Joker. Gordon would need a plate of steel like V used in ''VforVendetta''.

** Given what a crappy, depressed city Gotham is depicted as, I assume they just thought it was SomebodyElsesProblem. Just keeping their head down and trying to make it to the end of the day.

*** Yeah, they were looking ''real'' hard to arrest Batman, considering their top suspects included Abraham Lincoln and Bigfoot, and Gordon was openly operating the Bat Signal.