Rightly titled as one of the best superhero films ever, The Dark Knight continues to live up to its initial legacy despite being released almost 15 years ago. The movie stars Christian Bale as Batman, a vigilante who tries to eradicate corruption and crime from Gotham City with the help of local district attorney Harvey Dent and Lieutenant Jim Gordon.
The Dark Knight was released in Theatres in July 2008. It was directed by Christopher Nolan, with producers Emma Thomas and screenplay writer Jonathan Nolan. Just like the first movie of the Batman Trilogy, The Dark Knight was quite successful at the box office, collecting almost $1.006 Billion compared to a budget of $185 million. Other cast members that we see on the show asides from Christian Bale are Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Heath Ledger as Joker, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman.
This part of the Batman trilogy stands out as the most realistic, interesting, and gritty portrayal of a comic book superhero to date. It’s no surprise that the 152-minute-long movie has managed to gather a large number of positive reviews, as it has an impactful storyline with intriguing character development. Heath Ledger’s death made the movie’s premiere bittersweet, but fans were able to witness The Knight’s Tale actor once again after his passing. He even ended up receiving a posthumous Oscar for his performance as Joker.
The Dark Knight: The Plot of The Film
A large mob is seen robbing a bank, but the group ends up killing each other for lesser shares. The only survivor of the incident turns out to be the cold-hearted criminal, Joker. This incident is one of the many unfortunate events Gotham is facing in the present times, so Bruce Wayne, whose alter ego is Batman, decides to eradicate crime from its roots with the help of Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon.
Being a Charismatic District Attorney, Harvey becomes the perfect person to represent positivity in Gotham. To return disorder back to the city, its most notorious criminals decide to organize a meeting. Lau, who we see was trying to make a deal with Wayne Enterprises, was handling all of the criminals as his clients and was in charge of their cash.
Joker asks the mobs for half of their fortune in return for getting rid of Batman. They eventually agree (after he tortures them), and Joker’s first plan is to reveal Batman’s identity. He threatens to kill law enforcers and other people involved in the police department if Batman fails to reveal who he is. Bruce organizes a Fundraiser for Harvey, but Joker interrupts and almost kills Rachel. This is where Joker deduces Batman’s feelings for her.
Seeing the unnecessary amount of deaths, Harvey lies and exposes himself as Batman. He is taken to Jail while Bruce tries to figure out what the Joker wants. He successfully captures him, but this turns out to be useless as the Joker already has a plan in motion. He causes Rachel and Harvey to be tied at different places with bombs fitted to them. Batman decides to go to Rachel’s location while Gordon heads over to Harvey’s spot.
The locations are found to be inverse, and Rachel ends up dying in the explosion. Harvey burns half of his face and is taken to the hospital. Joker continues with his evil strategies to kill all hope in Gotham. He plants two ferries with bombs, one which carries inmates and another with civilians. Despite facing the risk of being blown up, the groups decide not to kill each other, much to the disappointment of Joker.
Though he is unable to corrupt Batman, he is successful in planting revengeful thoughts in Harvey’s mind at the hospital, and Two-Faced Dent is now after Gordon’s family as he blames him for Rachel’s death. Batman shows up in time and manages to push Harvey off the house, killing him. The Dark Knight takes up the blame for the deaths instead of Harvey since he is a symbol of hope for Gotham. Batman decides to protect Gotham from the Shadows as its guardian angel.
The Dark Knight: Ending Explained
The movie has quite a handful of moments that make us pause and ponder the dialogue being said. By the end of the film, Both Joker’s and Batman’s words start making sense. However, Joker has no emotions attached whatsoever to whatever he does, and he only wishes to see humanity’s downfall. The Joker had first planned to corrupt Batman, but this strategy failed, and instead, he ended up using his other pawn, Harvey Dent. After Batman leaves him hanging alive, Joker is taken in by the police.
Being enraged by Rachel’s death, Harvey decides to kill everyone responsible for what happened. He eventually targets Commissioner Gordon’s family, but Batman tackles him just as he’s about to shoot Gordon. Though Harvey had a pure heart and true ambition in the beginning, losing Rachel became the reason for his change of heart. He is influenced by Joker’s words and starts using violence. Batman doesn’t want the desperate people of Gotham to see their only hero being corrupted, so he takes the blame for the deaths upon himself.
Since Harvey was more relatable to the normal citizens of Gotham as compared to Batman, he was more likely to create a sense of goodness in the population during a time of widespread fear and death. Bruce wanted to preserve this “White Knight” image of Harvey, which he had envisioned for him at the beginning of the movie. Pennyworth burns the letter Rachel had left for Bruce, as he deserved much more, and knowing that she chose Harvey would hurt him unnecessarily. Batman eventually becomes the hero Gotham deserves but doesn’t need for now.
Also Read: The Dark Knight Rises Ending Explained: What Does it Mean?
