While Tim Burton would still be credited as producer on the next installment, directorial duties would be passed onto the late Joel Schumacher to make 1995’s Batman Forever a much lighter, more marketable experience.
I know that I am just one portion of the Batman fandom who feels this way, but Batman Returns is actually my favorite of those original four films. I will admit, however, that I do not think of it as a great definitive Batman movie, given the odd, unnecessary liberties it takes with the character, but I think it is a great definitive Tim Burton movie, and admire its unique visual style and thorough embrace of darkness that the franchise would sadly lose sight of in subsequent entries. Of course, this is also coming from someone who would have loved to see a Penguin toy that squirts black saliva in his Happy Meal.