There is rarely any criticism given to 2008's "The Dark Knight". Heath Ledger's Joker tops many villain lists, and villain potrayal lists. And one of the very few criticisms that I have seen is about how the Joker did things. Or rather, how he managed to do such horrible things and not die?
It's actually a good question. It seems as though everything he planned went his way with no bumps in the road. How did he know the school bus would be there on time? Or that Gambol wouldn't kill him first? Or that he wouldn't be killed by cops in the chase scene? Well, I have thought about it, and here is what I think: I think it was more of a matter that he didn't care.
In one of his last scenes, Batman threw the Joker off of a building. His reaction? Laughing. He accepted his fate. Then he said something, "Do you think I would risk losing the battle for Gotham's soul...?" That told me, that not only did he accept his fate, but he planned for it. And I think that's how it went in most cases, he had a back-up plan for if he had died throughout the movie. Or perhaps, a plan for if he had
lived.
Another thing of note is the bank robbery scene. Did he plan for the manager of the bank to start shooting? He hid. Then tested to see if the bank manager had any more of his bullets by sending his henchman. Did he plan for this? No. BUT, it's fair to think that he planed to die. That is something not seen as much in comic book movies or movies in general: the villain planning to die. It's happened, just not seen as much, notable examples being Jigsaw in Saw (a very underrated franchise in my opinion, but that's besides the point). Even after he died in Saw 3, he managed to orchastrate, through a line of plot holes, the next four films in the franchise. That's how I think the Joker operated, and had Heath Ledger not died after filming, perhaps we'd have seen a different "The Dark Knight Rises".
One of the many great things about the Joker in The Dark Knight is that you know almost nothing about him. Or his plans/goals. That could be the reason why that wasn't spelled out, because it didn't need to be. And in many ways, it was brilliant to imply that no matter what happened, he was ready. Who knows, maybe if he was shot by his henchman during the bank robbery scene a bomb would blow up all of Gotham (exageration, I know).
So there it is. The greatest comic book movie villain, analyzed. I hope you all enjoyed reading and if you did, show some love and hit the red thumb! Agree, disagree, comment bellow! Thank you for reading, peace out.