The Dark Knight (film)

The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, based on the comic book character created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon confront a criminal known as "The Joker".

Directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan.

• You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
• You think I wanna escape from this? There is no escape from this!
• Have you ever had to talk to the person you love most, tell them it's all going to be alright when you know it's not? Well... you're about to know what that feels like, Gordon. Then, you can look me in the eye and tell me you're sorry.
• Tell your boy it’s going to be alright, Gordon. Lie, like I lied.

• [to bank manager] I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you...stranger.

• [to Gambol] You wanna know how I got these scars? My father was a drinker, and a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that — not... one... bit! So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me, and he says, "Why so serious?" He comes at me with the knife: "Why so serious?" He sticks the blade in my mouth: "Let's put a smile on that face!" And — [looks suddenly at Gambol's henchman] Why so serious?

• [to Batman] Don't talk like you’re one of them! You're not, even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me. They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out like a leper. See, their "morals," their "code"? It's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these, ah, "civilized people"? They'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.

• [to Dent] Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just... do things.

• [to Dent] You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan," even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang-banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan." But when I say that one little old mayor will die — well then, everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair!

• Commissioner James Gordon: Goddammit, will you stop pointing that gun at my family?!

[mob bosses are holding a videoconference with Lau to discuss safeguarding their money]

Sal Maroni: How soon can you move the money?

Lau: I already have. For obvious reasons, I couldn't wait for your permission. Rest assured, your money is safe.

The Joker: [enters laughing sarcastically] And I thought my jokes were bad!

Gambol: Give me one reason why I shouldn't have my boy here pull your head off.

The Joker: How about a magic trick? [sticks a pencil into the table, point first] I'm gonna make this pencil disappear. [slams Gambol's henchman's head down upon the pencil, penetrating his eye socket] Ta-da! It's— it's gone! Oh, and by the way, the suit, it wasn't cheap. You ought to know. You bought it! [Gambol rises in anger]

The Chechen: Sit. I want to hear proposition. [Gambol sits down]

The Joker: Let's wind the clocks back a year. These cops and lawyers wouldn't dare cross any of you. I mean, what happened? Did your – did your balls drop off? Hmm? You see, a guy like me—

Gambol: A freak! [mobsters chuckle]

The Joker: [annoyed] A guy like me— Look, listen. I know why you choose to have your little group therapy sessions in broad daylight. I know why you're afraid to go out at night: the Batman. See, Batman has shown Gotham your true colors, unfortunately. Dent? He's just the beginning. And as for, uh, the television's so-called "plan": Batman has no jurisdiction. He'll find him, and make him squeal! I know the squealers when I see them, and... [points at Lau, who turns off his camera]

The Chechen: What do you propose?

The Joker: It's simple. We, uh, kill the Batman. [the mobsters laugh]

Sal Maroni: If it's so simple, why haven't you done it already?

The Joker: If you're good at something, never do it for free.

The Chechen: How much you want?

The Joker: Uh, half. [the mobsters laugh again]

Gambol: You're crazy.

The Joker: I'm not. No, I'm not! If we don't deal with this now, soon little, uh, Gambol here won't be able to get a nickel for his grandma.

Gambol: [slams the table] Enough from the clown!

The Joker: [revealing hand grenades under his jacket] Ah-ta-ta-ta. Let's not blow this out of proportion.

Gambol: You think you can steal from us and just walk away?

The Joker: Yeah.

Gambol: I'm putting the word out. Five hundred grand for this clown dead. A million alive, so I can teach him some manners first.

The Joker: All right, so listen. Why don't you give me a call when you want to start taking things a little more seriously? Here's my card. [leaves Joker card on the table, backs out of the room]

---

[Bruce is about to depart for Hong Kong to capture Lau]

Bruce Wayne: You look tired, Alfred. You'll be all right without me?

Alfred Pennyworth: [glancing at a yacht full of beautiful Russian women] If you can tell me the Russian for "Apply your own bloody suntan lotion."

---

The Joker: We made it! [fires a shotgun into the air] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment! I only have one question: Where is Harvey Dent? [accosting the guests] Do you know where Harvey is? Do you know who he is? Do you know where I can find Harvey? I need to talk to him about something. Just something little, huh? No. You know, I'll settle for his loved ones.

Guest: We're not intimidated by thugs!

The Joker: You know, you remind me of my father. [grabs him at knifepoint] I hated my father!

Rachel Dawes: Okay, stop!

The Joker: Well hello, beautiful! You must be Harvey's squeeze, hm? And you are beautiful. You look nervous. Is it the scars? Do you want to know how I got 'em? [grabs her face with knife in hand] Come here. Look at me! So I had a wife — she was beautiful, like you — who tells me I worry too much, who tells me I ought to smile more, who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks. Hey! One day they carve her face. We have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just want to see her smile again, hmm? I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars! So I stick a razor in my mouth and do this to myself, and you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves! Now, I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling! [Rachel punches him] A little fight in you! I like that.

Batman: [appearing out of nowhere] Then you're gonna love me.

---

[Bruce is investigating the Joker and his connection to the mob]

Bruce Wayne: Targeting me won't get their money back. I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different. They've crossed a line.

Alfred Pennyworth: You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation, and in their desperation, they turned to a man they didn't fully understand.

Bruce: Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. We just need to figure out what he's after.

Alfred: With respect, Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man you don't fully understand either. A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones, but their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones, but in six months, we never met anyone who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away.

Bruce: So why steal them?

Alfred: Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because 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.

---

Lucius Fox: What can I do for you, Mr. Reese?

Coleman Reese: You wanted me to do the diligence on the LSA Holdings deal, again. Well, I found some irregularities.

Fox: Yes, their CEO is in police custody.

Reese: No, not with their numbers; with yours. Applied Sciences - a whole division of Wayne Enterprises - just disappeared, overnight. I went down to the archives and started pulling some old files. You're not gonna tell me you didn't recognize your baby out there, pancaking cop cars on the evening news. Now you have the entire R&D department burning through cash, claiming that it's related to cell phones for the army? What are you building for him now, a rocket ship? I want $10 million a year, for the rest of my life.

Fox: Let me get this straight: You think that your client - one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world - is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan is to blackmail this person?

[Reese's smug look falters. Fox chuckles.]

Fox: Good luck.

---

Bruce Wayne: People are dying, Alfred. What would you have me do?

Alfred Pennyworth: Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman. He can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make - the right choice.

Bruce: Well, today I found out what Batman can't do. He can't endure this. Today you get to say "I told you so".

Alfred: Today, I don't want to. [pause] But I did bloody tell you. I suppose they'll lock me up as well, as your accomplice.

Bruce: Accomplice? I'm gonna tell them the whole thing was your idea!

---

[Batman is interrogating Sal Maroni, holding him over a fire escape railing]

Batman: I want the Joker.

Sal Maroni: From one professional to another: If you're trying to scare somebody, pick a better spot. From this height, the fall wouldn't kill me.

Batman: I'm counting on it. [drops Maroni, breaking his leg, then vaults down to him] WHERE IS HE?!

Maroni: I don't know where he is. He found us.

Batman: He must have friends!

Maroni: Friends? You met this guy?

Batman: Someone knows where he is!

Maroni: Nobody's gonna tell you nothin'. They're wise to your act. You've got rules. The Joker, he's got no rules. Nobody's gonna cross him for you. You want this guy, you got one way, but you already know what that is: just take off that mask. Let him come find ya. [Batman snarls and lets Maroni go] Or are you gonna let a couple more people get killed while you make up your mind?

---

[Batman catches Dent pretending to threaten a man working for the Joker with death based on the flip of his coin (which is actually double-headed)]

Batman: [snatching the coin] You'd leave a man's life to chance?

Harvey Dent: Not exactly.

Batman: His name's Schiff, Thomas. He's a paranoid schizophrenic. Former patient at Arkham - the kind of mind the Joker attracts. What do you expect to learn from him?

Dent: The Joker killed Gordon. He's gonna kill Rachel!

Batman: You're the symbol of hope I could never be. Your stand against organized crime is the first legitimate ray of light in Gotham in decades. If anyone saw this, everything would be undone. All the criminals you pulled off the streets would be released, and Jim Gordon will have died for nothing. You're going to hold a press conference, tomorrow morning.

Dent: Why?

Batman: No one else will die because of me. [returns the coin] Gotham's in your hands now.

Dent: [as Batman leaves] You can't. You can't give in! YOU CAN'T GIVE IN!

---

Batman: Where's Dent?

The Joker: You have all these rules, and you think they'll save you!

Batman: [pins the Joker against a wall] I have one rule.

The Joker: Then that's the rule you'll have to break to know the truth.

Batman: Which is?

The Joker: The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. And tonight, you're gonna break your one rule!

Batman: I'm considering it.

The Joker: You know, there's only minutes left, so you're gonna have to play my little game if you want to save one of them.

Batman: "Them"?

The Joker: You know, for a while there, I thought you really were Dent. The way you threw yourself after her! [laughs cruelly]

[Enraged, Batman flips the Joker backwards onto the table]

The Joker: Look at you go! Does Harvey know about you and his "little bunny"?

Batman: [slams Joker's head into the mirror and punches him] WHERE ARE THEY?!

The Joker: Killing is making a choice!

Batman: [punches him again] WHERE ARE THEY?!

The Joker: Choose between one life or the other: your friend the District Attorney, or his blushing bride-to-be! [whoops with laugher as Batman punches him again] You have nothing! Nothing to threaten me with! Nothing to do with all your strength! [Batman grabs Joker up by the collars] But don't worry, I'm gonna tell you where they are! Both of them, and that's the point. You'll have to choose. He's at 250 52nd Street, and she's on Avenue X at Cicero.

---

Bruce Wayne: That bandit, in the forest in Burma...did you catch him?

Alfred Pennyworth: Yes.

Bruce: How?

Alfred: We burned the forest down.

---

[Gordon visits Dent in the hospital; Dent's head is turned sideways against his pillow, away from Gordon, to show only the intact right side of his face]

James Gordon: I'm sorry about Rachel. The doctor says you’re in agonizing pain, but won't accept medication. That you're refusing to accept skin grafts.

Harvey Dent: Remember that name you all had for me when I was in Internal Affairs? What was it, Gordon?

Gordon: Harvey, I—

Dent: Say it...SAY IT!

Gordon: Two-Face. Harvey Two-Face.

Dent: Why should I hide who I am?

Gordon: I know you tried to warn me. I'm sorry. Wuertz picked you up. Was he working for them? You know who picked up Rachel? Harvey, I need to know which of my men I can trust.

Dent: Why would you listen to me now?

Gordon: I'm sorry, Harvey.

Dent: [turning to reveal the burned left side of his face] No. No, you're not. Not yet.

---

[the Joker meets the Chechen in a warehouse; Lau is tied up on the top of a pile of cash]

The Chechen: No so crazy as you look.

The Joker: I told you, I'm a man of my word. [slides down the pile] Where's the Italian? [throws some cash, hitting Lau]

The Chechen: Wait, Joker man. What you do with all your money?

The Joker: You see, I'm a guy of simple taste. I enjoy, uh, dynamite, and gunpowder, and gasoline! [Joker's men douse the pile with gasoline]

The Chechen: What the—

The Joker: [brandishes pistol] Ah-ta-ta-ta. And you know the thing that they have in common? They're cheap.

The Chechen: You said you were a man of your word.

The Joker: Oh, I am. [takes Chechen's cigar, blows on the end] I'm only burning my half. [throws cigar onto the pile, setting it ablaze] All you care about is money. This town deserves a better class of criminal, and I'm gonna give it to 'em. Tell your men they work for me now. This is my city.

The Chechen: They won't work for a freak!

The Joker: [mocking the Chechen’s accent] "Freak"… [throws a knife to his men; they drag the Chechen away] Why don't we cut you up into little pieces and feed you to your pooches? Hm? And then we'll see how loyal a hungry dog really is! It's not about money. It's about sending a message. Everything burns!

---

[Wuertz is in a bar, watching news coverage of the chaos caused by the Joker]

Bartender: I got to take a leak. Keep an eye out for me, will you? [goes to bathroom]

Wuertz: [after a pause] Now what? You need someone to shake it for you?

Two-Face: [appearing suddenly] Hello.

Wuertz: Dent! Jesus! I— I thought you was dead!

Two-Face: Half. [downs Wuertz's drink, then aims a revolver at him] Who picked up Rachel, Wuertz?

Wuertz: Must have been Maroni's men.

Two-Face: [slams his hand on the counter] Shut up! Are you telling me that you're gonna protect the other traitor in Gordon's unit?

Wuertz: I don't know! He never told me! Listen, Dent, I-I swear to God, I didn't know what they were gonna do to you!

Two-Face: Huh. That's funny, [spins his coin on the counter] 'cause I don't know what's gonna happen to you either. [it lands scarred side up; he kills Wuertz]

---

[Maroni gets into his limousine]

Maroni: [to driver] Don't stop for lights, cops, nothin'. [sees Two-Face next to him in the back seat]

Two-Face: Going to join your wife? You love her?

Maroni: Yes.

Two-Face: You ever imagine what it would be like to listen to her die?

Maroni: Look, take it up with the Joker, huh? He killed your woman. He made you like this.

Two-Face: The Joker's just a mad dog. I want whoever let him off the leash. I took care of Wuertz, but who was your other man inside Gordon's unit? Who picked up Rachel? Must have been someone she trusted.

Maroni: Look, if I tell you, you'll let me go?

Two-Face: It can't hurt your chances.

Maroni: It was Ramirez. [Two-Face cocks his gun] But you said—

Two-Face: I said it couldn't hurt your chances. [flips his coin; it lands clean side up] You're a lucky man. [flips again; scarred side up] But he's not.

Maroni: Who?

Two-Face: [buckles seat belt] Your driver.

[shoots driver; the car crashes, killing Maroni]

---

The Joker: We really should stop this fighting. Otherwise we'll miss the fireworks.

Batman: There won't be any fireworks!

The Joker: And here we go! [shocked by silence as the clock passes midnight without either ferry destroyed]

Batman: What were you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone's as ugly as you? You're alone!

The Joker: Can't rely on anyone these days. You got to do everything yourself. Don't we? [pulls out another detonator] That's okay. I came prepared. It's a funny world we live in. Speaking of which, you know how I got these scars?

Batman: No, but I know how you got these! [fires gauntlet blades into the Joker's face and throws him off the building, then hoists him back up]

The Joker: Ah, you! You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible, aren't you? Huh? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you because you're just too much fun! I think you and I are destined to do this forever.

Batman: You'll be in a padded cell forever!

The Joker: Maybe we could share one. You know, they'll be doubling up at the rate this city's inhabitants are losing their minds.

Batman: This city just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good.

The Joker: Until their spirit breaks completely! Until they get a good look at the real Harvey Dent, huh? And all the heroic things he's done. You didn't think I'd risk losing the battle for Gotham's soul in a fistfight with you? No. You need an ace in the hole. Mine's Harvey.

Batman: What did you do?

The Joker: I took Gotham's white knight and I brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. See, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!

[Batman leaves, and the Joker laughs hysterically as he is taken into custody]

---

Batman: You don't want to hurt the boy, Harvey.

Two-Face: It's not about what I want. It's about what's fair! You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time, but you were wrong. The world is cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is chance — unbiased, unprejudiced, fair. His son has the same chance she had. [shows both sides of his coin] Fifty-fifty.

Batman: What happened to Rachel wasn't chance. We decided to act — we three.

Two-Face: Then why was it me who was only one who lost everything?

Batman: ...It wasn't.

Two-Face: The Joker chose me!

Batman: Because you were the best of us! He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall!

Two-Face: And he was right.

---

James Gordon: The Joker won. All of Harvey's prosecutions, everything he fought for: undone. Whatever chance you gave us of fixing our city dies with Harvey's reputation. We bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore him down. People will lose hope.

Batman: They won't. They must never know what he did.

Gordon: Five dead, two of them cops? You can't sweep that up.

Batman: But the Joker cannot win. Gotham needs its true hero.

Gordon: No!

Batman: "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." I can do those things, because I'm not a hero, not like Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be.

Gordon: No. No, you can't. You're not!

Batman: I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be. Call it in.

Gordon: [speaking at Dent's funeral] ...A hero. Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed. Nothing less than a knight, shining...

Gordon: [to Batman] We'll hunt you.

Batman: You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me, set the dogs on me, because that's what needs to happen, because sometimes truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded. [runs]

Gordon's Son: Batman? Batman! Why is he running, Dad?

Gordon: Because we have to chase him.

Police sergeant: Okay, we're going in. Go! Go! Move!

Gordon's Son: He didn't do anything wrong.

Gordon: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him, because he can take it, because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian — a watchful protector — a dark knight.

• Breaking from a more sprightly, brightly-colored tradition of comic book films best exemplified by Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man pictures, Nolan nudged the genre in the direction of hard realism. Bale’s Batman doesn’t behave like a valiant defender of the defenseless, rather like a hard-nosed cop unencumbered by legal codes of conduct. The Joker, a role that enshrined Heath Ledger in myth following his untimely passing, is no mere super villain, either. He’s an ideological deviant, referred to at least once in the script directly as a “terrorist”, compelled only by the love of violence and chaos. His agenda is chilling in its indifference; he gleefully sets a mountain of money ablaze in full view of the crooks he took it from, just to show them that this is a war fought on principle. He’s the closest thing to nuance that the DC rogues’ gallery has ever seen, and characteristic of a film founded in social theory. The Joker’s grand evil scheme? Sociology thought experiments … made real!
  • Justin Chang, “Film Review: ‘The Dark Knight’", Variety, (July 6, 2008).
• Pitched at the divide between art and industry, poetry and entertainment, it goes darker and deeper than any Hollywood movie of its comic-book.
  • Manohla Dargis as quoted by Kermode, Mark (July 25, 2008). "Mark Kermode reviews 'The Dark Knight' - BBC 5 Live". 'Kermode and Mayo's Film Review' YouTube channel. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
• “Batman” isn’t a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about. That’s because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production. This film, and to a lesser degree “Iron Man,” redefine the possibilities of the “comic-book movie.”
  “The Dark Knight” is not a simplistic tale of good and evil. Batman is good, yes, The Joker is evil, yes. But Batman poses a more complex puzzle than usual: The citizens of Gotham City are in an uproar, calling him a vigilante and blaming him for the deaths of policemen and others. And the Joker is more than a villain. He’s a Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies.
  The key performance in the movie is by the late Heath Ledger, as the Joker. Will he become the first posthumous Oscar winner since Peter Finch? His Joker draws power from the actual inspiration of the character in the silent classic “The Man Who Laughs” (1928). His clown's makeup more sloppy than before, his cackle betraying deep wounds, he seeks revenge, he claims, for the horrible punishment his father exacted on him when he was a child
  • Roger Ebert, “DARK KNIGHT”, Rogerebert.com, (July 16, 2008).
• More important than this, however, is the idea that Batman is not just a guy in a suit, but a symbol and there are people in the film most notably The Joker who want to destroy that symbol. While Batman's identity remains secret and his motives unknown to Gothamites, he represents hope in a city that has little to spare and embodies a pursuit of justice and further, a code of behavior that quite literally threatens these criminals' way of life. By throwing Gotham into chaos and testing the limits to which Batman holds himself, The Joker is not merely plying death and destruction but willfully destroying the philosophical foundations of organized society. The closest such examination another comic book-oriented film has ever attempted was the emotional throughline of the Spider-Man films. Peter Parker's struggle was almost exclusively personal, whereas Wayne not only has to find a way to maintain his moral compass, but consider what the repercussions of his heroism are to both the public and the criminals themselves.
  • Todd Gilchrist, The Dark Knight", IGN, 30 JUN 2008.
• The Dark Knight is that most uncommon of movie sequels, as virtuous as The Godfather II or Aliens: it doesn't just expand a previous storyline, it immeasurably enriches it by adding shadings of character development and moral complexity that were only hinted at in Batman Begins, the 2005 series rethink by director Christopher Nolan, who rescued Bob Kane's comic book creation from camp hell.
  • Peter Howell, 'The Dark Knight': Superior sequel", (July 17, 2008).

• Why So Serious?
• I believe in Harvey Dent.
• Welcome to a world without rules.
• Can you avenge evil without becoming it?
• Out of the darkness…comes the Knight.
• I'm an agent of chaos.
• I believe, whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you... stranger.
• If you are good at something never do it for free.
• Some men just want to watch the world burn.

• Christian Bale – Bruce Wayne/Batman
• Heath Ledger – The Joker
• Aaron Eckhart – Harvey Dent/Two-Face
• Michael Caine – Alfred Pennyworth
• Gary Oldman – Lieutenant/Commissioner James Gordon
• Maggie Gyllenhaal – Rachel Dawes
• Morgan Freeman – Lucius Fox
• Eric Roberts – Sal Maroni
• Ng Chin Han as Lau
• Ritchie Coster as Chechen

• Batman Begins
• The Dark Knight Rises

• Official website
• The Dark Knight (film) quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Encyclopedic article on The Dark Knight (film) on Wikipedia
• Media related to The Dark Knight on Wikimedia Commons