3) Conclusions, Conclusions
Christopher Nolan deals in powerful, enigmatic, and sometimes downright shocking conclusions. It’s a specialty of his to leave a viewer thinking or wanting more long after they leave the cinema.
Take the way he neatly wrapped up Batman Begins while tantalizingly teasing The Joker’s appearance in the sequel, the way he left The Dark Knight on that cliffhanger, or how he offered catharsis in the form of his long-suffering character’s first real taste of happiness at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.
Nolan knows how to end a movie. Zack Snyder, based on the evidence of Batman V Superman, doesn’t have a clue. The city-destroying final battle is overly-long and tedious (he clearly didn’t learn his lesson from Man of Steel), while the tease of Superman coming back to life at the very end of the movie – something faux-enigmatic clearly inspired by Nolan – is a complete fumble. We know Superman’s going to be back for more movies, so any intrigue is immediately dissipated.