With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker. As the city descends into anarchy, the Dark Knight is forced to cross the fine line between hero and vigilante.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States United Kingdom |
Premiere date |
July 18, 2008 |
Running time |
152 minutes |
Genre |
Action Crime Drama Thriller |
Budget |
$185,000,000 |
Box Office |
$1,006,234,167 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Christopher Nolan |
Produced by |
Emma Thomas Charles Roven Christopher Nolan |
Written by |
Jonathan Nolan Christopher Nolan |
Music by |
Hans Zimmer James Newton Howard |
Cinematography |
Wally Pfister |
Edited by |
Lee Smith |
Production Co. |
Warner Bros. Pictures Legendary Pictures Syncopy |
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #02 in The Dark Knight Collection
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The Plot
A Calculated Chaos: The Gotham National Bank Heist
Ten months after the emergence of the Batman, Gotham City remains a breeding ground for crime, but a new kind of darkness is about to take center stage. The story opens with a meticulously planned robbery of the mob-owned Gotham National Bank. A group of five mercenaries in clown masks—Grumpy, Chuckles, Happy, Dopey, and a nameless bus driver—execute the heist under the direction of a mysterious figure known as "Bozo." As the robbery progresses, the criminals systematically double-cross and execute one another, each seeking a larger share of the loot. In the end, only "Bozo" remains standing. He reveals his true face to the dying bank manager—it is the Joker. After shoving a smoke grenade into the manager's mouth and uttering a chilling taunt, he escapes in a school bus, seamlessly blending into a line of other buses just as the GCPD arrives.
The Cost of Vigilantism and the White Knight
That night, the streets of Gotham are filled with chaos as gun-wielding Batman impersonators interrupt a drug deal between the Scarecrow and the Chechen’s mobsters. The real Batman soon intervenes, subduing both the criminals and the vigilantes. However, the encounter leaves Bruce Wayne bruised and bloodied; he is bitten by Rottweilers and realizes that his current armor is too cumbersome. This realization prompts him to ask Lucius Fox for a new, more versatile suit that allows for greater mobility, even if it leaves him more vulnerable to gunfire. Meanwhile, District Attorney Harvey Dent—dubbed the "White Knight of Gotham"—is making massive strides against the mob, even surviving an assassination attempt by Salvatore Maroni during a trial. Bruce sees Dent as the legitimate hero Gotham needs, someone who can allow him to eventually retire from his life as Batman and find happiness with Rachel Dawes, though Rachel is currently romantically involved with Dent.
A Magic Trick and a Deadly Proposition
The heads of the Gotham crime families—Maroni, the Chechen, and Gambol—meet to discuss the existential threat posed by the combined efforts of Dent, Lieutenant Gordon, and Batman. Their Chinese accountant, Lau, informs them via video conference that he has moved the mob's collective fortune to Hong Kong to protect it from a police seizure. The meeting is interrupted by the Joker, who enters with a terrifying laugh and performs a "magic trick" by slamming a mobster’s head onto a pencil. He offers a simple, albeit expensive, solution: he will kill the Batman for half of their money. He warns them that Lau will eventually crack under pressure. Gambol, insulted by the Joker’s audacity, puts a bounty on the clown’s head. However, the Joker soon infiltrates Gambol’s headquarters by faking his own death, kills the mob boss with a knife to the mouth, and forcefully recruits Gambol's men into his chaotic fold.
The Skyhook Extraction: Bringing Lau to Justice
Knowing that they cannot seize the mob's money without Lau, Batman travels to Hong Kong. Equipped with Fox's new sonar technology and a highly maneuverable suit, he executes a daring "Skyhook" extraction. He infiltrates Lau's high-security office building, subdues his private guards, and snatches the accountant from the heart of the city, delivering him directly to the steps of the Gotham City Police Department. With Lau in custody, Dent and Gordon orchestrate a massive sweep, arresting over 500 mobsters simultaneously. Desperate, the remaining mob bosses—the Chechen and Maroni—turn to the Joker, finally accepting his offer to eliminate the Batman.
An Ultimatum for Gotham
The Joker shifts the stakes from profit to psychological warfare. He broadcasts a gruesome video of himself torturing a Batman impersonator, Brian Douglas, and issues an ultimatum: the Batman must turn himself in and reveal his true identity, or the Joker will kill innocent people every single day. The killings begin immediately. Commissioner Loeb is poisoned by his own whiskey, and Judge Surillo is blown up in her car by a bomb triggered by a note that simply says "UP." The Joker also targets Harvey Dent, crashing a fundraiser held by Bruce Wayne. Bruce is forced to hide Dent in a secure room while he, as Batman, battles the Joker's thugs. The confrontation ends with the Joker throwing Rachel Dawes out of a window, forcing Batman to dive after her to save her life while the villain escapes.
The Fall of the Commissioner and a Public Sacrifice
The city descends into fear as the Joker targets Mayor Garcia during a public memorial for Commissioner Loeb. Disguised as the ceremonial honor guard, the Joker and his men open fire during a 21-gun salute. Lieutenant Gordon heroically leaps in front of the Mayor, taking a bullet to the back and seemingly dying on the spot. In the ensuing chaos, the Joker escapes again, but one of his men, a schizophrenic named Thomas Schiff, is captured. A grief-stricken and vengeful Harvey Dent kidnaps Schiff, interrogating him at gunpoint with a coin flip, only to be stopped by Batman, who warns Dent about the dangers of becoming the very thing he fights. Realizing the bodies will keep piling up, Bruce decides to reveal his identity the next morning. However, during the press conference, Dent preempts him, publicly claiming that *he* is the Batman to draw the Joker out into the open.
The Slaughter on the Highway
As Dent is transported to the county jail, his SWAT convoy is ambushed by the Joker, who drives a massive semi-truck with the words "SLAUGHTER" spray-painted on the side. A high-octane battle ensues on the streets and in the tunnels of Gotham. Batman arrives in the Batmobile, sacrificing the vehicle to take an RPG hit meant for the transport van. From the wreckage, he deploys the Batpod, a sleek motorcycle. Batman manages to flip the Joker’s semi-truck using steel cables, but he cannot bring himself to run the villain over, crashing his bike to avoid breaking his "no-kill" rule. As the Joker prepares to unmask the unconscious Batman, he is surprised by a SWAT officer who reveals himself to be James Gordon—having faked his death to protect his family. Gordon arrests the Joker, and the city breathes a sigh of relief as the "clown prince of crime" is finally behind bars.
The Joker’s Game: A Choice Between Two Lives
The victory is short-lived. Harvey Dent is kidnapped while being escorted home, and the Joker reveals during a brutal interrogation at the hands of Batman that both Dent and Rachel Dawes have been taken to separate locations rigged with explosives. The Joker mocks Batman’s moral code, forcing him to choose which one will live. Batman races to save Rachel, while Gordon and the police head for Dent. However, the Joker lied about the locations; Batman arrives to find Dent instead of Rachel. Through an intercom, Rachel and Harvey share a final, heartbreaking goodbye. As the timers reach zero, Batman drags Dent out of the building just as it explodes, but the fire catches the left side of Dent’s face, which is soaked in gasoline. Simultaneously, Gordon arrives at the other location too late; Rachel is killed in the blast. Back at the police station, the Joker uses a phone-activated bomb hidden inside a prisoner to escape, taking Lau with him.
Chaos is Fair: The Birth of Two-Face
The death of Rachel shatters Gotham’s spirit. Bruce is consumed by grief, unaware that Rachel had written him a letter (which Alfred hides) stating she intended to marry Harvey. In the hospital, Dent is driven to madness by his loss and his horrific disfigurement. He refuses medication or skin grafts, embracing the nickname the corrupt cops gave him: "Two-Face." The Joker, meanwhile, burns Lau alive atop a mountain of mob cash and kills the Chechen, declaring that Gotham "deserves a better class of criminal." He then issues a new threat: unless a Wayne Enterprises lawyer named Coleman Reese—who has discovered Batman's identity—is killed by a citizen, he will blow up a hospital. This triggers a frantic evacuation of the city's medical facilities and a desperate effort by Bruce and Gordon to save Reese from an angry mob.
The Destruction of Gotham General
Disguised as a nurse, the Joker infiltrates Harvey Dent’s hospital room. Rather than killing him, the Joker "introduces a little anarchy," convincing Dent that his tragedy wasn't personal, but the result of a corrupt "plan" by the establishment. He hands Dent a gun and offers his own life up to the flip of a coin. Dent's coin—now scarred on one side—comes up "clean," and the Joker is spared. Dent leaves the hospital and begins a murderous rampage, hunting down the corrupt officers (Wuertz and Ramirez) and mobsters (Maroni) who played a role in Rachel's death. As the Joker exits the building, he detonates the explosives, leveling Gotham General Hospital in a terrifying display of destruction before kidnapping a busload of hostages.
The Ferries and the Social Experiment
The Joker’s final move involves two ferries trapped in the harbor: one filled with innocent civilians and the other with hardened criminals. He informs both ships that they are rigged with explosives and that each has the detonator to the other vessel. He gives them until midnight to blow the other ship up, or he will destroy them both. He calls it a "social experiment" to prove that everyone is as ugly as he is. Meanwhile, Batman uses a controversial sonar-imaging system—which Lucius Fox agrees to operate only once before resigning—to track the Joker to a construction site. Inside, the Joker has swapped the clothes of the hostages and the henchmen, nearly tricking the SWAT teams into shooting the innocent. Batman intervenes, taking down both the police and the criminals to save the hostages.
An Ace in the Hole
Batman and the Joker engage in a final, brutal confrontation at the top of the Prewitt Building. The Joker subdues Batman with the help of his dogs and watches the clock, waiting for the ferries to explode. To his shock, both groups of passengers choose not to kill one another; a prisoner throws his detonator overboard, and the civilians cannot bring themselves to push the button. "What were you trying to prove?" Batman asks, "That deep down, everyone’s as ugly as you? You’re alone." Enraged, the Joker tries to detonate both ships himself, but Batman knocks him off the building. True to his code, Batman catches the Joker with a grapple, leaving him dangling upside down. The Joker cackles, revealing that his true "ace in the hole" was the corruption of Harvey Dent. He has broken Gotham’s White Knight, and the truth of Dent’s fall will destroy the city's hope.
The Silent Guardian: Protecting the Lie
Batman finds Two-Face at the ruins where Rachel died, holding Gordon’s family hostage. Dent, obsessed with the "fairness" of a 50/50 chance, judges Batman and Gordon with his coin. He shoots Batman in the stomach and prepares to kill Gordon’s young son to make the Commissioner feel the pain he felt. Before the coin can decide the boy's fate, Batman tackles Dent off the ledge. Dent falls to his death, while Batman barely saves the boy. Looking at Dent's body, Gordon realizes that if the public finds out about Harvey’s murders, the mobsters will be released and the city will lose its soul. Batman makes the ultimate sacrifice: he tells Gordon to blame him for the murders. "I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be," he says. Gordon reluctantly destroys the Bat-Signal as a manhunt is issued for the Batman. Alfred burns Rachel's letter to spare Bruce further pain, and Lucius Fox watches as the sonar machine self-destructs. As Batman flees into the night, Gordon explains to his son that Batman isn't a hero, but something more: "A silent guardian; a watchful protector; a Dark Knight."
