Competing for the title of best-reviewed Action/Adventure film of the year, we have the Man of Steel making his long-awaited return; Ethan Hunt on another difficult -- nay, impossible -- mission; a man in a Guy Fawkes mask trying to free Britain from its fascist government; and a bunch of snakes…on a plane.

The Man of Steel flew back into theaters this summer with a new director (Bryan Singer), a new story (a fill-in-the-gaps tale of Superman's return to Earth), and a new Clark Kent (Brandon Routh). With its space-flying visual effects and emotional love story, this action flick paid homage to the beloved superhero while employing ultra-modern technology; succeeding, as Cinematical's James Rocchi writes, as "a vital, exciting vision of a pop-culture legend that brings respect for the past and re-invention for the future to the screen in equal measure."

Also taking a shot at comic hero adaptations were the makers of V for Vendetta, a slick, bombastic thriller about a refined, lethal masked man trying to bring ruin to a totalitarian regime in near-future Britain. Granted, the film's politics divided critics (anti-establishment or pro-terrorist?) but in the company of less thought-provoking flicks, it was, as New York Magazine's David Edelstein says, "A welcome blast of pop subversion."

Another highly-anticipated actioner of the year was Mission: Impossible III, with star Tom Cruise (himself a celebrity spectacle of 2006) reprising the role of secret agent Ethan Hunt. Critics agree that, while superficial in story, the high-octane stunts and fast-paced tension make this a great popcorn flick. As Peter Canavese of Groucho Reviews notes, MI:III is "a thrill ride, and a gripping one: plausibility-straining, predictable at times, but pulse-pounding all the same," -- and really, isn't that what counts?

Superheroes and spies frequently make their appearances in the Action/Adventure category, but there was one overwhelming buzzword in 2006: snakes! Simply titled Snakes on a Plane, the Samuel L. Jackson vehicle took on a life of its own when Internet-goers turned the high-concept creature feature into the biggest marketing phenomenon of the year. The biggest surprise of all? When SOAP hit theaters, critics actually liked it. Why? As Toronto Star critic Peter Howell puts it, it "delivers exactly what it promised and then some. And how often can you say that about a movie these days? Or, as the NY Post's Kyle Smith states, "If loving S.O.A.P. is wrong, I don't want to be right."

And the Golden Tomato winner for the best-reviewed movie in the Action/Adventure genre is ... Casino Royale.

With X-Men: The Last Stand and Superman Return on the slate, you expect as least one of them to be to tops in this category, but no, the prize has gone to Casino Royale, the recipient the Golden Tomato for best-reviewed movie in Wide Release as well with an adjusted score of 86.46 and a Tomatometer of 95 percent. You want to be an action/adventure movie that'll leave you shaken and stirred? Casino Royale has all that and more. At nearly two and a half hours, it's a little on the long side, but Daniel Craig as the new James Bond as well as the direction the movie is heading breathes new life in this long running franchise.