10. Wanted
Tomatometer: 73%

Summer comic book movies are usually based on established heroes -- as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Batman can attest -- but Universal wanted something out of the ordinary. Their first step? Hire upstart Russian director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch), who infused the film, about a new inductee into a super-powered ring of assassins, with his signature visual flair. Combined with a script loosely adapted from the comic of the same name, uber geek elements like "bullet bending," physics-defying set pieces, and Angelina Jolie as a sultry killer, Wanted turned out to be one of the more unabashedly entertaining -- and simultaneously critically approved -- popcorn flicks of the summer.

9. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Tomatometer: 77%

Say what you will about the long-awaited return of Indiana Jones, but even almost two decades after his last crusade, critics decided that the fedora still fit. Director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas seemed to revisit a lot of familiar ground in the fourth big-screen franchise outing, but their 1950s Area 51-esque plotline -- and the sheer coolness of seeing Harrison Ford reprise his trademark role -- provided enough thrills to delight longtime fans. Could Indy's newly introduced son (Shia La Beouf) don the fedora in further sequels? $780 million in worldwide returns point to "yes."

8. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Tomatometer: 80%

Woody Allen's latest effort opened quietly in limited release before expanding into theaters nationwide, allowing the ebullient enthusiasm of critics to spread. Considering the mixed results of Allen's work of late (going from the Oscar-nominated Match Point to the uneven Melinda & Melinda, to the disappointing Scoop, to the middling Cassandra's Dream), critics discovered that watching the Spanish-set Vicky Cristina Barcelona was like unearthing a gem. At 80 percent, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is Allen's best reviewed film since 1997's Everyone Says I Love You (83 percent).

7. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Tomatometer: 80%

Critics (and parents) often groan inwardly when they sit down to watch a family film, but Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery proved a surprisingly good watch for all ages. Credit for much of the film's success goes to Little Miss Sunshine Abigail Breslin, but we can also thank director Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park) and scribe Ann Peacock (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) for infusing the kid mystery with wholesome smarts.

6. Tropic Thunder
Tomatometer: 83%

Ben Stiller's Vietnam-set Hollywood satire brought up the rear of this summer's line up, opening mid-August as (arguably) the last event movie of the season. And it surely did pay off. Audiences loved Tropic Thunder; critics made it Certified Fresh. Even protests over its controversial "Simple Jack" and blackface plot devices couldn't get this war comedy down. Tropic Thunder also notably became the best-reviewed summer film to open since The Dark Knight debuted a month prior, and the first film to topple The Bat's stronghold on the box office.

5. Kung Fu Panda
Tomatometer: 88%

Let it not be said that Pixar has a stronghold on doing animation well; DreamWorks SKG proved otherwise with Kung Fu Panda, starring Jack Black as a rotund bear destined for martial arts greatness. Prior to release, DreamWorks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg hinted at the possibility of five or six Kung Fu Panda films, a la Shrek; one 88 percent Tomatometer and $577 million later, we'd say a Kung Fu Panda franchise looks very likely, indeed.

4. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Tomatometer: 88%

While previous summers saw sequelized blockbusters rake in the dough but fall far below Fresh on the Tomatometer (see last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), this summer boasted sequels aplenty that were also critically loved. Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army was one such movie, not only returning its beloved cigar-chomping hero to the screen, but improving on the first film in the process (Hellboy, 80 percent).

3. Iron Man
Tomatometer: 93%

While the summer of 2008 will be remembered for the domination of The Dark Knight, let's not forget another comic book superhero that made his mark on critics and audiences: Iron Man. The Marvel character sprang to life in May, thanks to Robert Downey Jr.'s witty star turn and Jon Favreau's glossy direction. Just one point and about 40 reviews shy of The Dark Knight, Iron Man could even potentially catch up and surpass Batman on the Tomatometer...

2. The Dark Knight
Tomatometer: 94%

When Christopher Nolan rescued the oft-silly Batman franchise from campy irrelevance in 2005, critics took note: Batman Begins introduced a gloomier dark knight and went Certified Fresh at 85 percent on the Tomatometer. This summer's eagerly anticipated The Dark Knight followed suit, and then some; it scored an impressive 94 percent on the Tomatometer and dominated the summer box office for weeks, breaking records -- and expectations -- left and right. Not bad for a comic book movie!

1. Wall-E
Tomatometer: 97%

In grand Pixar tradition, Wall-E not only charmed the pants off of critics and audiences alike, it blasted its way to the top of the Tomatometer to become the best-reviewed film of the year so far. (Recent Pixar movies Ratatouille and The Incredibles also opened to critical acclaim and went on to become the best-reviewed wide releases of their respective years.) The tale of a lonely little robot is well positioned to win this year's Golden Tomato Award...and if the Academy follows suit, Pixar might just have a few more of those gold statuettes to put on their mantle.