The Dark Knight Justice and Judgment Quotes

One of the reasons that Bruce became Batman was that the police and law enforcement in Gotham were thoroughly corrupt. (Gordon was the only cop worth trusting in Batman Begins.) With the virtuous Harvey, that justification is unnecessary, which means that Batman can trust the justice system to do right as long as Harvey's there.

If you stop and think about it, the Joker actually does more damage to the mob than any of the good guys do. He kills Gambol, the Chechen and Mr. Lau directly, and Two-Face gets rid of Maroni after the Joker sends him over the edge. That's a lot of bad guys taken out, and he does so simply by ignoring Batman's One Rule. This guy has really thought his position through.

The Joker has more on his mind than a death wish here. He wants to show Batman that every rule gets broken. The question is, wouldn't killing the Joker be just? And if it is, then what, exactly, does Bruce gain by sticking to his one rule?

That line can seem pretty arbitrary here, but it also indicates that the Joker is playing on another level. He's not simply seeking to evade justice, like the gangsters are. He wants to destroy the very notion that justice exists.

Batman's not the only one doing right and administering justice out there. Gordon's laying it all on the line too, and sometimes he's the one who gets to run in and save the day.

The Joker's lack of a past suggests that he exists outside the system completely. Therefore, its notions of justice don't apply to him, and—more frighteningly—that he has the freedom to bring it all down if he wants.

Actually, it's not fair. It's arbitrary, and those aren't the same things. But that fine point is lost on a guy clearly this bonkers. To him, the anarchy he unleashes is the only thing that can deliver justice in a world this flawed.

There's a big rope-a-dope here. This guy, who looks like the scariest human being on the face of the Earth, actually makes the very moral decision not to blow up the other ferry. We get the sense that he did a really bad thing once upon a time, and has spent the last 15 years sitting in a cell thinking about that. It's the most important moral moment in the movie. It's where Batman's proven right: that deep down inside, we know better than to do the wrong thing and that the better angels of our nature can prevail. Even this career felon, this enormous terrifying man, knows right from wrong. It's a pretty strong sign in the midst of an otherwise despairing movie that everyone is capable of redemption. Well, almost everyone.

Harvey's still looking for justice, he's just looking for it in the wrong place. Like the Joker, he's completely unhinged and the results make him believe that the random flip of a coin is somehow more just than a system of (admittedly flawed) laws written by non-insane people.

This horrible step Batman's about to take—this lie he's getting ready to embrace—comes because his motives haven't changed. He'll do anything to attain justice for Gotham, even become a scapegoat for all its sins.