The Dark Knight (2008)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. The film follows Batman, police lieutenant James Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent as they form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City. However, their efforts are disrupted by the Joker, an anarchistic mastermind who tests Batman’s ability to save the city from chaos. The ensemble cast includes Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman.
A gang of masked criminals rob a mafia-owned bank in Gotham City, betraying and killing each other until the Joker reveals himself as the mastermind and escapes with the money. Batman’s true identity, billionaire Bruce Wayne, publicly supports Dent as Gotham’s legitimate protector, believing it will allow him to retire and pursue his childhood friend Rachel Dawes.
Gotham’s mafia bosses gather to discuss protecting their organizations from the Joker, the police, and Batman. The Joker interrupts the meeting and offers to kill Batman for half of the fortune their accountant, Lau, concealed. Batman finds Lau in Hong Kong and returns him to Gotham police custody, allowing Dent to apprehend crime families. The Joker kills high-profile targets, including the judge and police commissioner.
Wayne struggles to understand the Joker’s motives, but Alfred Pennyworth believes some men just want to watch the world burn. Dent claims he is Batman to lure out the Joker, who attacks the police convoy transporting him. Batman and Gordon apprehend the Joker, who claims he finds Batman entertaining and has no intention of killing him. The Joker reveals she and Dent are being held separately in buildings rigged to explode. Batman races to rescue Rachel while Gordon and other officers go after Dent, but they discover the Joker gave their positions in reverse.
The explosives detonate, killing Rachel and severely burning Dent’s face. The Joker escapes custody, extracts the fortune’s location from Lau, and burns it, killing Lau in the process. Wayne Enterprises accountant Coleman Reese deduces and tries to expose Batman’s identity, but the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital unless Reese is killed. Dent defers his decision-making to his half-scarred, two-headed coin, killing the corrupt officers and the mafia involved in Rachel’s death.
Batman subdues the Joker but refuses to kill him. Dent takes Gordon’s family hostage, blaming his negligence for Rachel’s death. Batman tackles him to save Gordon’s son, and Dent falls to his death. Batman takes the blame for his death and actions, persuading Gordon to conceal the truth. Pennyworth burns an undelivered letter from Rachel to Wayne, and Fox destroys the invasive surveillance network that helped Batman find the Joker. The city mourns Dent as a hero, and the police launch a manhunt for Batman.