The Dark Knight Why didn't Gordon arrest the Joker when they had him surrounded?

What scene are you talking about? The Police didn't have him surrounded. They were all tied up evacuating the hospitals across Gotham and protecting Reese from the rampaging Gothamites.

Batman hid Dent and then took out all of Joker's men. Joker was alone and would not be sticking around to ask the guests again where Harvey was.

 

They were still planning the raid. They weren't actually at the warehouse yet.

And providing manpower to evacuate hospitals after a bomb threat takes precedence over chasing after a guy who might not even be there by the time they arrive.

 

They didn't forget that. If you recall Reese was on TV about to spill the beans about Batman's identity while they were prepping themselves at Police HQ to go get Joker, when Joker interrupted the broadcast and said he didn't want a world without Batman. So he told Gotham that if they didn't kill Reese within an hour he would blow up a hospital.

Gordon then had bigger priorities. He had to send all his man power out to evacuate the hospitals and also protect Reese from the mobs of Gothamites.

 

I'm sure they felt relieved to have survived the fall. Other than that Joker was looking for Dent and Batman knew he was out of harms way. Also by that time the police would of been alerted. It's safe to assume Joker and his goons would of taken off.

 

They picked the right choice with halting their plans for Joker and saving Reese while emptying the hospitals though. Arrest Lau/probably kill Joker or save Reese and empty all hospitals. Gordon was smart in making the wiser choice.

With Dent hidden, Joker had no reason to stick around.

 

Actually had they went after the Joker he couldnt have had his little talk with Harvey and the Joker wouldnt have been at the hospital to set off the detonator. No talk with Harvey, no murders, and no cover up at the end. When the Joker called in the bomb threat Gordan and a small detachment of Swat should have went after the joker or scoped out his location, the rest evacuate the hospital and secure Reese. Nurses and hospital staff are plenty adept at evacuating patients with the help of only a few cops at each hospital. Once everyone is out do a sweep and done. I know they dont need 1000 cops to do that job. Counting every off duty cop and given the number shown in TDKR they should have been able to evacuate the hospitals and go after the joker. And really Gordan shouldnt have evacuated any hospital because he didnt know whether the Joker would set the bomb off if he tried. He should have called in the FBI and a negotiator. Gordan made many kneejerk reactions in that moment.

This is one part of TDK i despise because Gordan didnt think. He hears the threat and instantly changes plans without ever considering what would happen if he tried to evacuate.

 

"evacuate the hospital".

It wasn't just one hospital. There were like three or four, plus Gordon and some men securing Reese.

 

Only problem with that is that it shouldn't have been so easy for the Joker and his goons to escape. What with Batman (at the very least) being his doorman and all. That's one of the flaws that I thought this movie had. The cut from that scene despite no explanation for the Joker's escape bugs me.

 

My brother misinterpreted this as well--there is a shot of black SUVs rolling up to the tanker the Joker is holding Lau in. After we saw the movie he asked me why those cops who surrounded the Joker didn't take him out. It wasn't until I rewatched the movie that I realized he mistook these black SUVs, which we are supposed to interpret as belonging to the Chechen and his men, as belonging to the police. That is because it goes jump cuts from Gordon organizing his men to take out the Joker, to the black SUVs rolling up.

However we see later after the Joker makes his threat that Gordon is still in whatever room he was in organizing his men and he says, "We gotta go get Reese", etc.

In the script (Page 66) there is a little transitional scene thrown in there where the Joker hears police sirens so him and whatever goons were left flee the Penthouse in a car. It was never filmed, though, I don't think. It goes:

Why it was cut I'm not sure, since it has caused numerous people to complain about the plot hole in the resulting movie and would have only added another 10-15 seconds to the movie, max.

There was another good line they cut out of the ending for some reason at the end.

Sent shivers down my spine when I read it. Not sure why they cut that one particular line out as it is pretty great...

 

How cool would it have been to see the cops arrive and having Batman hurry up and switch clothes to appear back as Bruce Wayne and handle the situation at his Penthouse with the cops. Would have added humor and a good scene for Batman having to get back to deal with the cops

 

Not a necessary scene to have shot, all the key moments transpired beforehand, but I think it's safe to assume that this is what transpired next. In other words, Batman gets Rachel to his penthouse upstairs, changes out of the costume, and then appears as Bruce to ensure none of his guests were harmed or required medical attention. The police arrive shortly after..

His alibi of course, is that he ran into his panic room during the commotion, as witnessed by two of the parties guests.