Opening Image

Joker orchestrates the robbery of a mob bank along with a few other criminals and tricks them into killing each other for a greater share of money. Before leaving the bank, the manager tells him that the criminals in Gotham have a certain level of respect for each other and that by killing the other criminals, he’s inviting trouble as that’s not how they do things in Gotham. The Joker, however, is unfazed by this and tells him that he doesn’t play by the rules, he’s the embodiment of anarchy, plain and simple.

The Joker’s methods primarily include the exploitation of human nature. He capitalized on the greed of the other criminals into killing each other and further into the movie, we see him manipulate other characters as well in a similar manner.

Meanwhile, Batman is at a far greater position of power in Gotham. Criminals are running scared and the police only claim to be out to arrest him while in fact they’re glad to have him do their work for them.

Batman appears to be blinded by power. He has the power and resources that enable him to do whatever he wants with zero accountability and consequences and as long as he’s out to do good, the people don’t question his methods and the ones that want to are too scared.

Theme

A few minutes into the film, Bruce reveals that he’s had Harvey Dent followed for quite some time, claiming that he wants to know if he can be trusted or not, but Alfred warns Bruce that he needs to know his limits. While Batman may be a God-like figure, Bruce Wayne isn’t. The world may believe that Batman is invincible but Bruce is only human and is covered in scars and bruises from his activities as a vigilante. But as of now, Bruce is adamant and isn’t willing to listen to reason, he believes that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same and sees no end to his reach and power in Gotham.

Set Up

Batman’s presence in Gotham has inspired ordinary citizens to take charge and fight criminals as Batman.

Gordon meets with Batman at the mob bank where they agree that taking down the mob is the priority and that the Joker can be dealt with later.

Harvey Dent is much like Batman, he’s also trying to fight the mob tooth and nail but the only difference is that he’s taking the legal route. His work so far has been commendable and many in Gotham see him as a true hero.

Gordon meets with Harvey and tells him that they’re close to tracking down the mob’s money with irradiated notes (courtesy of Batman) and that he needs warrants from Dent to facilitate the search.

Wayne Enterprises cancels a joint venture with Lau Security, which was Bruce’s intention all along. He just needed a closer look at their accounts as he believes that the CEO is involved with the mob as well.

Catalyst

As of now, Bruce is completely absorbed in his pursuit of justice and sees no end to his journey as Batman. In this segment, he has his eyes opened to the possibility of having a life without Batman after he meets Harvey.

Debate

Bruce sees a better version of himself in Harvey, one that can actually inspire the people of Gotham in a positive manner. However, Harvey actually speaks in favor of Batman and aims to be his successor when the time comes. Harvey’s moral compass and strong sense of justice, wins Bruce over, so much so that he decides to throw a fundraiser for him.

In the other part of town, the mob is debating over their next course of action. Lau tells them that he’s moved all their money to a secret location so that the police don’t gain any leverage over them and flies back to Hong Kong to stay out of their jurisdiction. The Joker intervenes and tells them that their attention must be focused on the real problem, that is Batman. He knows exactly what Batman is capable of and that none of them will ever truly be safe as long as he’s around. Unfortunately, the mob doesn’t take him seriously and one of the mob bosses, Gambol even places a bounty on his head.

Break Into Two

Dent and Gordon blame each other for losing the mob’s money, claiming that Sal Maroni’s got men working in each other’s department. Batman tells them to leave Lau to him.

Echoing the theme, Bruce goes to Lucius to formulate a plan on how to extract Lau with his endless resources.

B Story

While the war with the mob rages on, we’re reminded that the Joker is still out there. He starts to grow within the mob when he kills Gambol and takes over his crew. The B Story here acts as an immovable object to the unstoppable force that is Batman. The mob is no match for Batman because they believe that he has no weakness, but soon enough Joker exposes his Achilles’s heel by exploiting his morality.

Fun and Games

The theme comes into play again when Batman manages to do the impossible by getting Lau back all the way from Hong Kong. After negotiating with Lau, they manage to pin down the entire mob and in retaliation, they hire the Joker to deal with Batman.

The Joker then kills one of the impostor Batmen and threatens to kill the police commissioner, a judge and Harvey Dent, stating that everyday people will die unless Batman unmasks in public. This is a direct attack on Batman’s only weakness, his morality. He cannot in good conscience allow innocents to die while he protects his identity.

After succeeding in killing his first two targets, he moves on to Harvey but Bruce manages to get to him first. The Joker targets Batman’s weakness again when throws Rachel out the window, forcing him to go after her while the bad guys make their escape.

In his arrogance, Bruce still believes that he’s dealing with just another criminal, but Alfred tells him that while other criminals may be after specific goals and agendas, the Joker only seems to crave wanton destruction. The bottom line being that Bruce needs to stop approaching this problem as something he can handle with ease just because he’s Batman. The Joker acts as a direct contradiction to the main plot which centers around Batman’s invincibility.

A Wayne Enterprises employee, Coleman Reese manages to find blueprints of the Bat Tumbler and plans to use it to blackmail Bruce with it. Fox warns him that if he does this, he’ll be going up against the Batman himself, Reese realizes that he didn’t think this through and backs off.

Relying on methods that haven’t failed him in the past, Batman again turns to his wealth to track down the Joker using near improbable means, but ends up being too late to try and stop him from attempting to kill the Mayor. At the last second, Gordon gets in the way and takes the bullet instead.

Dent finds out that Rachel is the Joker’s next target after one of the shooters is apprehended. Out of desperation he interrogates the shooter at gunpoint even though he’s clearly mentally unstable. This reveals that Harvey has a dark side and can be corrupted if his loved ones are at stake, just like any other person (the Joker is exploiting Harvey’s human tendency to retaliate in desperation when they stand to lose someone irreplaceable). Meanwhile Batman is blamed for all the deaths and so decides to reveal his identity (morality, another human characteristic) during a press conference even though Harvey strongly suggests against it.

Midpoint

Even though Bruce has made up his mind, he still turns to Alfred for guidance, who tells him that he shouldn’t be giving in to the Joker’s demands. The very idea of being a vigilante means that he’s above the law, he can make the choices no one else can no matter how hard it may be and no matter how much people will hate and condemn him for it. However, for once Bruce has a sense of clarity and realizes that Batman isn’t as indomitable as he thought he was, his morality is preventing him from standing by and doing nothing as innocents die (Bruce’s revelation about the film’s plot).

Nevertheless, at the conference Harvey claims to be the Batman and is arrested. Later when the Joker attacks him, the real Batman intervenes and so the main plot crosses with the B story.

After Batman manages to stop the Joker in his tracks, he comes charging at him on the Bat-pod, with the full intention to kill him. The Joker knows that Batman is blinded by rage and even if he does kill him he’ll be proving that no one is incorruptible. A few minutes later, with the Joker arrested, Harvey is deemed to be Gotham’s true hero.

Bad Guys Close In

Gordon finds out that Harvey is missing, but when he questions the Joker, he only taunts him so Batman takes over.

Joker tells Batman that they’re both outlaws and that society only tolerates Batman’s existence because they need him right now. It’s a dog eat dog world and when it comes down to it, people will be willing to kill each other for their own well being an survival. He says that he’s going to prove all of this to Batman in due time, foreshadowing his future plan. He reveals that he knows about Batman and Rachel based on how Harvey confessed he was Batman after Rachel was threatened and how Batman loses his cool after he mentions that she’s been kidnapped as well.

After mocking Batman by stating that despite all his skill, strength and resources he still has no leverage against him, he eventually gives him their locations. However, he switches their addresses, knowing full well that Batman would be able to get there first and he would go after Rachel. Additionally, he also places Rachel on the roof of the building, so even if one of the parties made it there, they still wouldn’t be able to get her out in time, whereas Harvey was placed on the ground floor for an easier extraction because Joker wants him alive.

As planned, Rachel dies, Harvey barely survives and the Joker escapes with Lau.

All Is Lost

With Rachel’s death, Bruce’s spirit is broken. Alfred reads the letter Rachel wrote for Bruce wherein she chooses Harvey over him, letting Bruce read it would only weaken him further. Lastly, with the Joker in the wind and Harvey left severely injured, Gotham has no hope left.

Dark Night of the Soul

Alfred tells Bruce that he is at fault for not realizing his limits and crossing the line in the first place. Dent is the real hero that Gotham deserves, but with him not around, they’ll have to make do with Batman.

Maroni gives Gordon the Joker’s location and they make a final attempt to try and take him down but just then it’s revealed that Coleman Reese has decided to reveal Batman’s identity. To prove just how aggressive and ruthless people can be when their basic nature is triggered, the Joker threatens to destroy a hospital unless Reese is killed.

While the good guys desperately try to keep Reese alive, the Joker heads to the hospital to brainwash Harvey. He tells him that the good guys chose to save him over Rachel. To them, she was secondary and expendable, they only saved Harvey because they needed him. He elaborates saying that if a soldier or a common criminal was to be killed, no one would bother, but if someone in a position of power is threatened, then people start panicking. The point being that regardless of the circumstances, they would always have chosen to save Dent over Rachel. However, the chaos that the Joker has introduced, neutralizes the order established as chaos affects all equally and brings about a sense of fairness. Acting on this, Harvey offers the Joker a fair chance at survival as well by flipping his coin.

On this other hand, Bruce barely manages to save Reese.

Break Into Three

The Joker offers the people a chance to leave Gotham if they no longer want to be a part of his game. Simultaneously, Fox is alerted of a break in at the R & D department.

On investigating, he sees that his sonar concept from earlier on in the film is now used to map every phone used in Gotham (main plot of Batman exceeding his limits) to try and locate the Joker (B story). While Batman is back to resorting to improbable and highly unethical means to achieving his goals, we see the first sign of reformation when he gives the power to Fox instead of wielding it himself. The main reason as to why we don’t see a major character change here is because in the ‘Dark Night’ section Alfred had stated that Gotham doesn’t need a hero like Batman who answers to no one but right now he’s all they have.

Finale

Two ferries are used to evacuate people from Gotham, one for the civilians and the other for the criminals. Joker tells them that one should blow up the other or else he’ll blow them both up. The people start panicking and anarchy takes over.

Fortunately, when it comes down to triggering the bomb, neither party is able to bring themselves to do it as the trigger-man wouldn’t be able to live with themselves. Thus the Joker is proved wrong, that not everyone is corruptible and Batman manages to subdue him. He does reveal that his trump card is Harvey and that despite winning this battle, Gotham will lose the war when the people realize what he’s done.

Batman heads to the location where Rachel was killed and tries to reason with Harvey, saying that the Joker only targeted him because he was the best of them. When this doesn’t work, he tackles Harvey off the building before he could kill Gordon’s son. Despite stopping Harvey, Gordon admits that the Joker has won and that the people of Gotham will lose hope after the truth about Harvey is exposed, in the end anarchy will prevail. Unwilling to let the Joker win and knowing that people deserve to have their faith in Harvey rewarded, Batman decides to take the blame for all the murders.

Closing Image

Batman makes the hard choice because he’s the only one that can, just like Alfred said earlier. Batman is the outcast and can endure being the bad guy to ensure Gotham’s survival.

We see that Bruce did learn his lesson about limitations to power, when the program self-destructs after Fox sings off.

In the beginning, Batman was a silent guardian and was hailed by many as a hero in Gotham. But now the closing image creates an opposite of the opening one as Batman is branded as a murderer and a criminal. The very sight of the bat signal in the sky used to terrify criminals into hiding, but now Gordon himself is forced to destroy it.