I LOVE Batman Returns. I even felt it has the strongest Batman moments out of ANY of the films. The dance scene with Bruce and Selina, ironically the only two NOT in costume at a costume ball, dancing and realizing each others' identities, and how their both so upset and shocked and yet, damn it, they want it to work... only for it to fall apart... it's so great.
Also, yeah. I agree. The Penguin in this film is a monster and a different version than the comics... but that's a GOOD thing. You could levy the exact same "complaint" about Heath Ledger's Joker being a far cry from the comic version, turned into a new monster for the film, and it still works. Only, ONLY thing I hated was the missile-penguins.
So cute. I can't take them seriously.
But I do find it funny how parents flipped out over Batman Returns, while the modern The Dark Knight I feel is far more adult, violent, and emotionally scarring. Thematically, it's even more disturbing than Returns is and it is far more cynical and despondent than Batman Returns was.
I'll also throw this in. Yes, Batman kills badguys in this movie... and I'm okay with that. It was once stated that Burton's films had the feel of the original comics (while Joel Schumachuer's had the tone of the 50s and 60s) and Nolan's films are the modern Batman. But, as Bob Kane pointed out, Batman did a LOT of killing in the original comics. I mean, yes, Batman has a no-kill-code now, but not when he started. In fact, in his first issue, he flat out tosses a mafia boss into a vat of acid and then says it's a fitting end for his kind.
The ONLY reason Batman ever got a no-kill-code, according to Bob Kane, was because he realized that killing off popular villains was hurting the comic. If Batman did not kill the Joker, the Joker could come back again and again. If he killed off all the enemies he could, Batman would not have a rogue's gallery. That's the only reason. Thus his no-kill code was added in the 40's to justify popular villains not being killed off.