Movie Spoiler THE DARK KNIGHT - after review

Anticipation levels rode high for director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to Batman Begins. Not only were fans and critics alike impressed by his first installment, but the whole venture became bittersweet upon the untimely passing of actor Heath Ledger, who played the film's villain, months before its release. As it turned out, it was that rare sequel that satisfied general audiences more than its progenitor. Not only is it one of the highest grossing films of all time, it enjoys exceptionally high approval ratings on most major movie aggregates. The Dark Knight picks up where Begins left off as the cape crusader (Christian Bale) continues to fight the Gotham City mobs, vulnerable ethics of justice, and merciless criminal The Joker (Ledger). Nolan's screenplay (which he wrote with his brother Jonathan) touches on topical subjects like the merits of terrorist negotiations, social politics, and corruption. While he sometimes hits his head on his operatic tone (the ferry scene, for one), he still manages to craft an absorbing tale of good verses evil that is indeed one of the best comic book adaptations ever. What kills me is the lengths the handful of naysayers will go to counterbalance the ardor fans express towards this movie.

Movie Spoiler Summary
The Joker (Heath Ledger) and his men adorned with masks stage an elaborate bank robbery. The bank manager (screen veteran William Fichtner) fights back. Clowns are taken out. A bus crashes in and they load it with money. The Joker stuffs a device emitting gas into the mouth of the manager. And he disappears anonymously riding a school bus in a parade of vehicles passing by.

New mayor Anthony Garcia (Nestor Carbonell) is interviewed about Batman. Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) puts out the bat signal. In a parking garage, The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) meets with a greasy guy who wants drugs. A man pretending to be Batman shows up and starts firing a semiautomatic weapon at the men. Then, the Batmobile emerges and deliver its name brand of justice. The real Batman (Christian Bale) starts kicking some ass. The Scarecrow and the faux Batman are left tied up for arrest. Batman meets with Lt. Gordon to discuss The Joker.

There’s a huge amount of dirty money flooding the banks. Alfred (Michael Caine) visits Bruce in a secret location at Wayne Enterprises. At a court hearing, new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) flips a coin to see if Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal recast after Katie Holmes’ departure) or him will lead on a case against Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts). A witness on stand fails to identify him as the new head of the Falcone crime family and pulls a gun on Dent, who immediately disarms him with quite the panache. He discusses Batman with Lt. Gordon, who wants warrants on five banks.

Ethically-challenged accountant Mr. Lau (Chin Han) proposes a venture between his company and Wayne Enterprises. Wayne employee Mr. Reese (Joshua Harto) is embarrassed by Bruce’s behavior during the proceedings. Bruce asks Fox (Morgan Freeman) to cancel the deal with Lau, who is involved with illegal activity. On a date, Bruce bumps into Rachel and Harvey. During dinner, Bruce’s partner Natascha (Beatrice Rosen) besmirches Batman’s name. Dent predicts his fate, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” Bruce tells Dent he can ensure him that he’ll never need to raise money again.

Via monitor, Lau speaks to a group of gangsters who inform him that one of their deposits ($68M) was stolen. Maroni is in attendance and it’s explained that the banks that have been laundering their dirty money have been exposed. Lau reveals to them that he has transferred all of their funds to a bank in Hong Kong as protection. The Joker arrives and offers his first impression by making a pencil disappear by slamming one of the thug’s face into it. The Joker expresses his mistrust of Lau and writes him off as a squealer. Gambol (Michael Jai White) takes a stand against The Joker when he demands a great deal of money, and the clown reveals he is wearing explosive devices, leaving his calling card behind. Dent meets with Batman on a rooftop. Dent and Gordon get into an argument and both accuse the other of having corrupt people in their office. Dent asks Batman to retrieve Lau. Bruce discusses the request with Fox and Alfred. Bruce ruins Rachel’s date with Harvey by absconding with the entire Russian ballet. On a boat in the Pacific while partying with the dance company, Bruce jumps into the ocean and boards a seaplane. The Joker pays Gambol a visit and shares the origins of his scars, letting out the line, “Why so serious, son?” “Let’s put a smile on that face,” he concludes and kills Gambol. He breaks a pool stick in half and lets Gambol’s two remaining decide between themselves who lives to work for The Joker and who dies.

Fox travels to Hong Kong and meets with Lau at the top of his building. Afterwards, Fox plants a sonar device on his departure. Bruce scales the building and shoots out some projectiles which activate the device and kill the electricity in the building. Batman takes flight and crashes into one of the building’s windows, launches an attack, and kidnaps Lau. Via sky hook, he escapes by attaching him and Lau to a passing airplane. Upon their return to the U.S., he leaves Lau in Gordon’s hands. Lau offers to snitch on the gangsters, as predicted by The Joker. Gordon subsequently arrests Maroni and company.

Wuertz’ (Ron Dean) warning to Dent concerning his ambition for seeking justice is interrupted by a “Jokerized” man in a Batman costume hanging from a noose. There’s also video of the faux Batman, Brian (Andy Luther), terrorized by The Joker. He threatens that if Batman doesn’t reveal his true identity, “people will die, starting tonight.”

At a party, Bruce makes quite an arrival from a copter and praises Dent in front of a crowd of people. Rachel expresses some skepticism, but Bruce assures her that he was genuine about his remarks, and that because of Dent’s work, his days as Batman may be numbered. Detective Ramirez (Monique Gabriela Cumen) shares with Lt. Gordon that three sets of fingerprints were found on the joker card pinned to Brian’s body: Dent, Judge Surrillo (Nydia Rodriguez Terracina), and Commissioner Loeb (Colin McFarlane). He orders immediate protection for all three figures, but Loeb is poisoned and Surrilo’s car blows up. The Joker shows up at the party for Dent, who Bruce has pulled into a panic room.  While holding Rachel at knife point, The Joker shares another version of the origins of his scars. Rachel lands a punch before Batman steps in. The Joker drops her out a window and Batman comes to her rescue

Dent picks up Lau for his court date. Alfred tries to explain to Bruce the phenomenon of The Joker, but he responds, “Criminals aren’t complicated, Alfred, we just need to figure out what he’s after.” He relays a story about Burma, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

Gordon finds some dead people in an apartment, including one Patrick Harvey. There’s a clipping of a Jokerized Mayor Garcia lying on the table. Batman takes extracts from a bullet in the wall. Bruce and Alfred run tests. Reese tries to blackmail Bruce, but Fox convinces him otherwise. Through Fox’s assistance, Bruce is able to identify The Joker’s fingerprint on the bullet. Fox expresses his surprise at the R&D department being involved in a project labeled under telecommunications without his knowledge.

The mayor walks in the funeral parade for Loeb, Alfred locates the whereabouts of The Joker, and Bruce hops on his motorcycle.  Bruce finds a bunch of men tied up in the apartment as well a timer. It turns out that The Joker sans makeup is in uniform as one of the firing squad. Havoc ensues. Dent questions Thomas Schiff (David Dastmalchian), a former resident of Arkham Asylum wearing a tag that says “Officer Rachel Dawes.” The Joker’s thug is uncooperative, so Dent takes off. Barbara Gordon (Melinda McGraw) is informed that Gordon is dead. Officers turn off the Bat signal. Batman arrives at a club Maroni is partying at and beats up a bunch of his men. Dent calls Rachel and tells her Gordon is dead and she must hide. Batman throws Maroni from a building who is unaccommodating about The Joker’s whereabouts. Dent puts a gun to Schiff’s head and flips a coin when he’s not forthcoming. Batman stops him and tells him that he must take the lead as Gotham’s savior. Bruce decides that he must turn himself in and reveal himself as Batman before any more blood is spilled on his hands, per The Joker’s demands. He kisses Rachel. Bruce has Alfred destroy all documentation.

When people demand that Batman turn himself in during a press conference, Dent confesses to being Batman. Rachel hands Alfred an envelop to give to Bruce. She tries to convince Dent to change his mind, but he tosses her a one-sided coin. “You make your own luck.” During an elaborate and heavily scrutinized chase scene, The Joker tries to capture the arrested Dent. Batman intervenes, having to self-destruct his vehicle to continue the chase on motorcycle. A police helicopter is destroyed. The Joker plays chicken which results in Batman crashing his motorcycle. Lt. Gordon, who didn’t die, shows up to arrest The Joker. The mayor shows up at the precinct and promotes Gordon to commissioner. Gordon reunites with his wife and child. Gordon returns to find out what The Joker has done with the recently kidnapped Dent and undoes his cuffs. Batman appears and The Joker cheekily says, “You complete me.” The villain explains, “I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.” He promises the caped crusader that the law will sell him out.

The Joker reveals that Rachel has also been kidnapped. Batman starts waling on him until he reveals some addresses. Rachel and Harvey are tied up, but there are phones set up that they’re able to communicate with each other. An inmate complains of pains. While trying to break free, Dent falls over and spills gasoline on himself in the process.

The Joker persuades Officer Stephens (Keith Szarabajka) to lower his guard and manages to break out of his holding tank. He makes a call that detonates an explosive device inserted into the body of inmate complaining of physical pains from earlier. Rachel tells Harvey that she wants to marry him. Batman shows up to save Dent instead of Rachel. A bomb goes off killing her. The other bomb goes off as Batman saves Dent; however he catches afire in the process and ends up burning from the gasoline soaked inside of his clothes and skin. The Joker locates Lau and escapes in a cop car. Gordon realizes that was all part of his plan to be locked up. Alfred reads Rachel’s letter to Bruce, which implores Bruce to choose the greater good over his love for her.

In intensive care, Gordon visits Dent, who was once nicknamed “Harvey Two Face” and, now, with his disfigured face, literally lives up to the name, which has led him to an emotional breakdown. Outside, Maroni tells Gordon that he can get him The Joker. At a shipyard, The Joker douses a mountain of money with gasoline in front of one of the gangsters. “This town deserves a better class of criminal and I’m going to give it to them.” While Coleman Reese is on TV discussing Dent in a local interview, The Joker calls into the show and demands that Reese be executed or else a hospital will be blown up. A random shooter tries to kill Reese, but Gordon takes him under protective custody. The Joker pays Dent a visit in a nurse’s uniform, hands Dent a gun, and asks him to “upset the established order.” He allows Dent the opportunity to kill him and Dent flips a coin. Bruce is involved in a car accident. The Joker blows up Gotham General Hospital and departs on his preferred method of transportation: school bus.

He forces Mike Engel (Anthony Michael Hall) of Gotham Tonight to read a threat to the city. Fox investigates a situation at R&D. Dent shows up at a bar and demands Wuertz tells him who picked up Rachel, then kills him. Batman has turned every cell phone in the city into tracking devices. He puts all that power into Fox’s hands, who is weary of Batman’s actions. Fox agrees, but says he will resign after this task is completed. Gordon meets with the mayor and explains he wants to use ferries to evacuate the city, one for prisoners and one for the civilians. Maroni reveals Ramirez was the one who took Rachel to her final location. Dent shoots the driver of the car while they’re in motion. The ferries start to leave, but suddenly stop. The Joker conducts a “social experiment.” He gives each ferry the opportunity to blow up the other, but they have to choose before midnight or else both ferries will explode.

Fox locates The Joker. Under pressure from Dent, Ramirez convinces Gordon’s wife to leave. The civilian ferry decides to vote on whether or not to blow up the other vessel. Mayhem escalates in the prisoner ferry. Batman attacks a man in a mask. Fox is able to inform Bruce of the presence of SWAT in the building. Dent forces Barbra to call Gordon. The civilians decide to blow up the prisoners. Batman continues to battle SWAT. He finds The Joker looking for the detonator. A passenger on the civilian ferry decides to detonate the bomb on the other ferry since no one else will. One of the prisoners throws their detonator out the window. The bomb-happy passenger can’t bring himself to do it. The Joker drops off the building, but Batman saves him. Joker describes their relationship, “This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.”

While he hangs in the air, “You didn’t think I’d risk losing the battle for Gotham’s soul in a fistfight with you?” The SWAT arrives. Gordon shows up for Barbara and child, where Dent is holding her captive at the location of Rachel's death.  Dent holds it against Gordon for not standing up against corruption and doing what he was told, instead of making a deal with the devil and fighting the mob. Cops show up. So does Batman who implores Dent not to play into The Joker’s fold. He shoots Batman. Dent lets Gordon’s son go and dies.  To protect Dent’s reputation, Batman assumes the responsibility for the six people who died. Gordon dismantles the bat signal. Alfred burns Rachel’s letter. Fox leaves Wayne Enterprises. “Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.”