The Dark Cherry: A Rebuttal

Written by Benny Ward.

Before Christopher Nolan started shooting Batman Begins he gathered his crew and privately screened Blade Runner, when it finished he told them he wanted his film to be just as good. He came close.

For The Dark Knight Nolan sat them down to watch Heat by Michael Mann.

This is what separates Nolan from most of the Hollywood fare, instead of following up the hugely successful Batman Begins with a sequel of equal quality, he decided to make a new film, one that didn't even have 'Batman' in it's title, different in tone, a film for our times.

Dear Cherry, I completely 100% disagree with you on The Dark Knight, you must have walked in on a different film to me (and everybody else in the world), maybe you were in a bad mood (time of the month?), perhaps you had just been dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend and this kind of 'serious' movie was just not what you were looking for at that time?

I would recommend re-watching The Dark Knight if you don't like it, something is wrong with you. Seriously wrong with you.


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The one image that sums up the mood of the film: the burning fire engine.

It invokes the feeling of chaos, of helplessness, there is no hope against this enemy, an enemy that is hidden, an enemy that is violent and seemingly amoral, an enemy who wants drag our very society into anarchy and flames.

The Dark Knight isn't just a film for our times, it is a film of our times.

Nolan attempts to make a mainstream action blockbuster whilst holding a mirror up to our dark situation, not only does he succeed in making one of the best cinematic experiences of the decade but he also succeeds in making a film that will be remembered in decades to come, this is how we felt, this is the world we inhabited in 2008.

Cherry's Plot-Holes Resolved

Cherry: "Joker counted on Batman finding the bullet hole in the wall and having all of this specialist equipment to get this fingerprint and then for Batman to turn up at an exact location at an exact time where the blinds on the window open-up…"

Benny: Since when did The Joker rely on Batman finding the bullet? surely when he hatched his plan he knew they would be looking for him, he believed they would find him somehow, he was there to cause confusion whether Batman found the bullet or not. He would not have been caught that easily. Sorry Cherry.

Cherry: "Another plot is where Joker blows up the police department. The Joker planned to do this and we know this because the explosives are inside one of his gang who is arrested and put inside the prison cell. That would mean that the Joker had planned to get caught and imprisoned. He is caught prior to this scene at the where he tries to blow-up Harvey Dent as he is being taken away in a police van. If Joker succeeded in blowing-up Harvey Dent in the police van then he would have also blown up Gordon (who we all think is dead at this point) who is sat in the passenger seat next to the driver. It is Gordon who surprises and arrests Joker. So, if the van was blown up Joker wouldn’t have been caught and arrested and the police station would never have been blown up. Yet, the film makes out that this was Joker’s plan all along. And that makes no sense."

Benny: Surely it's quite clear - The Joker's 'plan' was to entice Batman out into the open, he attacks Dent to do that, to get caught, he uses the mob to gain access to Dent and Rachel, then uses a prisoner in the police station to find a way out, but there was only one real plan in The Jokers mind, and that was to prove that even the most 'pure' man of Gotham could be turned, hence The Jokers victory at the end of the film, as Harvey Dent is turned from being Gotham's hope / Gotham's White Knight. And why, to try and preserve that hope, Batman takes responsibility for the murders that Dent enacted as Two-Face. In Batman's mind it is a sacrifice he is willing to take.

Cherry: "As far as we are concerned Joker thinks Dent is Batman. Yet Batman comes along and stops Joker from blowing up the van and yet plays the integral part in the Joker’s plan. Because at the same time as the station being blown up, Dent and Rachel are being blown up. But wouldn’t Dent be already blown up with Joker had succeeded with his bazooka? Are we really to believe that as soon as Joker is captured it is his schizo gang members that formulate the plan to kidnap Dent and Rachel? And do it all so efficiently the timing is perfect with the Joker at the police station?"

Benny: You are mis-interpreting the characters' motivations, does The Joker really believe Dent is Batman? is he not trying to draw Batman out into the open by attacking the imprisoned Dent? Remember The Joker is supposedly working for the mob to bring down Batman, so the mob's connections with the corrupt police force mean that The Joker has access to kidnap Dent and Rachel and make Batman choose one of them after he is imprisoned, in this 'plan' he is victorious. One - nil to The Joker. Dent survives and his dark side (which exists earlier on in the film) takes over, he is bitter and angry. Ultimately Dent chooses to reject his role as the White Knight of Gotham. Two - nil to The Joker. It is one of the few Hollywood films that lets the villain take the glory.

The script is complex - what else do you expect from Jonathan Nolan? (see Memento & The Prestige).
On one level it looks like The Joker is trying to kill Dent because he believes he is Batman, but you'd be a fool to think that, because The Joker merely uses the attack as a rouse to entice Batman into the open, even though Batman and Gordon believe they have the upper hand, they believe they are the ones tricking The Joker, it backfires on them, The Joker is caught and still has the upper hand.

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Thanks again Cherry for your review, nice try, but your attempt to destabalise Nolan's hold on quality mainstream cinema has failed. He will be around for many years to come, fingers crossed he helms the much-needed reboot of the Robocop franchise.

p.s. Check out his new film INCEPTION, due 2010.