The Dark Knight: A different 'plot' of view (A reality check)

Rating: 1/10 (23 July 2008)

The Dark Knight: A different 'plot' of view (Warning: Spoilers!) Movies are men made, there will always be errors and imperfections The Dark Knight is no exception. Its production quality was great, well directed and well acted but its plot was far from flaw less. I will not go as far as claiming it as a great movie without connecting that super hero context it was based up on.
The biggest problem for Dark Knight's story originated from its realistic theme. Since unlike other Heroes, the caped knight has no super power. Equally, his enemies should have no super power either. Yet this Joker character in the Dark Knight has power beyond any super hero or villain: Power to defy logic! The new Batman series was praised for creating a world that is not like the one in the comics, it tries to be as real as possible. In short, it takes itself seriously as a normal movie! Therefore, I expect the plot to be logical and can pass the test of common sense.
While the first half of the movie was excellent, though there was already a dent that foreshadows the problem that was to come: When the Joker crash the Wayne's party.
This is the first time we saw Joker's super power at work. He walked in to the party from the gate. How would a few thugs with a leader that has face paint not be stopped at ground level of the building armed security guards that normally assign to guard a party attended by so many important people of the city? How would Master Bruce not be warned by his men beforehand when they are at the lobby? An army of private security would be storming in from every exit long before the Bat shows up! The joker and his men would never get away as cops would seal the building before a dramatic scene involving Rachel. One has to remember that just a few scenes ago, our hero Batman have to pull all sorts of high tech strings to get in a building in Hong Kong then get out. The Joker must have used his super power to stopped logic for him to walk out of the Bat's property.
The Joker's super power gets overly charged in the second half of the movie. It all began after the poor judge got blow up in her car and the police chief gets poisoned, where the Joker puts a challenge to the Bat by abducting Rachel and Dent. It may seem smooth on the surface but if we think deeper, we would notice that, unless it was Joker's super power at work and resources rival Mr Wayne, both victims would never get abducted as they were snatch off the streets.
We can pretend whatever happened in 2001 never happened in Gotham universe. But with two such important person killed a few scenes earlier, it spells open war between the gangs and law enforcement. Mr 'two faces to be' and Rachel who was working so closely with him and has connection with the Bat would be well protected by the good police and the Bat's high tech devices if I was writing the plot. As smart as Rachel's character was, she should know better not to leave the watchful eye of the Bat until the crisis was over! The abduction attempt would be immediately informed to the police and the Bat's sources. Dent would not be snatched without sparking a fire fight or an all out alert! You can't just have him walked in to a car be driven off and not be notice of his disappearance until it was too late. It is simply illogical for both simply vanished like that. The two aren't homeless on the streets!
We can forgive the use of Joker power at the sequence where Lt Gordon was shot, but what happen next was unforgiving. Unless there are super natural forces at work, no one in the real world would set an entire hospital with the amount of demolition charges seen in the sequence while the place was fully operational all the time before that. We watch and enjoy the gang in Oceans 13 went to great length and effort to simulate an earth quake under the target hotel, and set in place all their tricks before the hotel was fully operational.
If that wasn't enough proof of superior Joker power, he loaded two boat prepared and guarded by the army with stationed big barrel bombs, not in a pick-up truck loaded with bombs like the one seen in the science fiction movie dejavu. There is no argument that sequence was great in execution but it would never have happen the way it was shown in a realistic world that follows real logic! Then, I wonder how many men Joker has under his disposal to help him round up so many hostages in the building. Logic tells us the bigger the operation the more attention it would draw, it would be impossible for the law enforcement not to aware all those are hostages instead of Joker's gang.
Where is the realism? Well, Joker already explained to us: he does not play by rules! So this movie has no rules on the plot! For me, the second half of the movies is nothing but a few great set pieces sew together by illogical lines. These illogical plot elements totally destroy the movie's credibility and realism.
I am not picking bones out of an egg. I simply apply common sense on the plot; therefore I will stop short of praising this film as a great logical 'normal' movie. It is a great Batman / comic movie never less, a great piece of entertainment if the audiences are willing to over look all those flaws.