Both films have their pros and cons.

Batman Returns is surprisingly dark and macabre, almost too much for my taste (I still shiver during the scene where Catwoman tears all those stuffed toys and...), but despite the dark atmosphere the actors do a goos job (special mention goes to Christopher Walken as Max Shreck; he really brought this character alive), and the storyline has some interesting stuff going on (it's interesting how Burton showed the Penguin as a tragic villain, and the Batman & Catwoman noir love stuff is good too). Danny Elfman's score isn't quite as good as in the previous film, but it works well in some scenes. Still, something just doesn't work in this film to truly elevate it to the level of the first Batman film, and it's somewhat hard to pinpoint what it actually is: maybe it's just the sum of all the parts and they probably don't just form a whole which is cohesive enough.

Superman Returns is more of a drama piece than an action flick, and I appreciated that kind of approach. The premise is rather interesting (how people have "forgotten" Superman and moved on in their lives), but it's sad that that particular plot line is kind of pushed aside too early when Superman comes to the rescue in the first half of the film. I would've wanted to see the movie getting deeper into the fact how Superman would deal with the world which has moved on, but it's fortunate that at least some of this stuff was shown. The actors do a commendable job (kudos to Kevin Spacey who really nailed the role as Lex Luthor while also staying mostly true to Gene Hackman's interpretation of the character). The "son" plot was quite touching at times (particularly in the end when (SPOILER)Superman recites his father's words to the boy who is sleeping, which is a great symbolic scene), and overall there were some great scenes which didn't rely on action (e.g. Superman floating over the world while he remembers his father's words, Superman's sacrifice).

The drama bit didn't really bother me, because it was well paced (although it was noticeable that some scenes were cut), and the action scenes were quite breathtaking at times (the crashing plane, saving the world). Maybe the film would've needed a bit more action as well as a more definite showdown between Luthor and Superman (hard as that might have been to portray properly), but overall the film worked and managed to establish a continuity to the first two Superman films and thus preserve Donner's vision. I was also glad to hear how John Ottman's score was a surprisingly good tribute to John Williams's original score, and Ottman managed to create some great new themes too. The score wasn't maybe as complex as Williams's original, but it was a very good effort from Ottman and certainly worked wonders in the film.

So, with all this in mind, I guess Superman Returns as a whole is a better film than Batman Returns, although the latter certainly has its moments too.