This is pretty amusing. The Guardian has released their list of the most preposterous film plots of 2008. The number 1? Well, “The Dark Knight” of course.
The Joker, as amazing played by Heath Ledger, is supposed to be about chaos, mayhem and anarchy, right?
Here’s a direct quote from the film:
The Joker: [to Dent/Two-Face] “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. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon’s got plans. You know, they’re schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how, pathetic, their attempts to control things really are. So, when I say… Ah! Come here.”
“Wait, so the Joker really orchestrated that big truck chase just so that he could get caught and go to prison, then he could kidnap that guard and grab his phone to make the call to set off the bomb he’d previously sewn inside the henchman in the next cell? That would kill the guy who stole the mobsters’ money, thus enabling him to … er, what? Heath Ledger’s Joker may have been a psychopath, but he had a nerdish capacity for forward planning.”
Pretty contradictory, no? It might sound glib, but it’s major things like this – a ridiculous plot – that still leaves the film in the super hero ghetto and separates it from real dramas. I.e. this might be a small example of why the film might not get nominated for a Oscar Best Picture. We’re pretty convinced it’s not going to happen.
But meanwhile, the campaigning geeks behind “The Dark Knight” Oscar-push (the Darkcampaign.com) have released another poster. This one appropriates the “Why So Serious” poster and turns it into “All It Needs Is A Little Push…” Right, as if these guys have the addresses of Academy members and can convince them otherwise.
Maybe they’ll spread the Academy voter list around and go door to door campaigning for the film. Obviously they don’t have jobs and live in their moms basements. Hey, if street teams worked for Obama…
Other films on the Guardians’ Most Ridiculous Plots of 2008 include, “Sex And The City,” “Iron Man,” “Hancock” and “Indiana Jones 4 And The Crystal Skully Thing.” All very appropriate choices.
Nice blog
War Of The Fire ©
So, someone other than a comic nerd put too much thought into the plot? Good for them?
After rewatching The Dark Knight, I realized how smart and realistic it tries to be only comes off as pretty implausible if you ask me, and apparently I ain’t the only one. Concerning The Joker getting caught on purpose after trying to kill Dent, only to them kill the Chinese and escape…it seems to me he had almost every cop in his pocket anyway (including some of Gordon’s guys), so couldn’t they have just killed the Chinese guy and Dent for that matter. Alot of the plot threads seem to crumble like that under close speculation, but hey, it a comic book movie…or is it??
Contradictory? Well maybe not. My take is that the Joker isn’t really a character as such – we don’t know anymore about him at the end of the film than we did at the beginning (In fact I’d say that’s probably the major weakness of the film).
The guy is a liar. He lies to everyone. He tailors what he says to his audience to manipulate them. Most notably when he explains his back story and changes it every time.
I’m loosing my interest in your blog, guys.. All this hate-campaigning for “The Dark Knight”. It makes you a little pathetic..
We're not supposed to learn anything about the Joker. Not a weakness.
There is no contradiction. The Joker is a liar, why would you believe anything he says?
When dealing with Batman, you can't expect anything to be 100% logical. People just over-analyze like crazy.