Best Comic Book–turned-Movie Crossovers

1. The Dark Knight – Christopher Nolan's fantastic direction, along with a riveting screenplay and incredible special effects launched The Dark Knight into critical and commercial success. All of the actors performed phenomenally, and Heath Ledger perfectly captured what the Joker would be like in a "real" Gotham City.

2. Iron Man– Because of Robert Downey Jr.'s great acting, Jon Favreau's excellent direction, and an outstanding script, Iron Man was entertaining for both old and new fans alike. Add in incredible special effects and you have the makings for one of the best superhero movies to date.

3. Spider-Man – Marvel's most popular hero made an exhilarating debut in his first feature film. While the script made some departures from its source material, the changes went nearly unnoticed amid the action and intrigue of the great plot. Sam Raimi's direction was a perfect fit, and Danny Elfman provided the best musical score ever written for a superhero movie.

4. Sin City– A poignant and excellently acted film-noir, Sin City showcased the tragic lives of several of its inhabitants. Almost completely black and white, the film makes excellent use of its brief flashes of color to bring a visual intensity to several scenes. Each of Sin City's episodic tales is as well-crafted, gripping and unrelenting as the last.

5.X-Men – With flashy special effects and an interesting story, X-Men was the first in a stream of superhero blockbusters that continues to this day. Bryan Singer's direction style was well-suited for the film, and thanks to him the movie had many memorable shots.

– Jason Pearl

1. 300 – With a film like 300, you shouldn't try to look too deep for a hidden message. The sheer purpose of the film is to watch a group of obnoxiously toned Spartans completely destroy their Persian enemies. The fight scenes are heart-pounding, the special effects stylized to the extreme with every battle cry, and blood spatter serves as a heavy tribute to Frank Miller's unique artistic style.

2. Watchmen – Successful as a comic, not just for the violent fight scenes and the finely drawn illustrations, but also for its intelligent storyline, Watchmen is unique in that it tackled issues of war and human nature. While it's difficult to properly adapt the most celebrated graphic novel ever into a motion picture, it remains true to the comic and comes as a breath of fresh air in the realm of comic movie adaptations.

3. Sin City – The graphic novel centers on the lives of shady crooks and gritty lowlifes in a dark world of crime, sex and drugs, where one must always have eyes on the back of their head — what's not to love? Robert Rodriguez captures the visual brilliance of the comic by mixing the black and white and color, and is able to play out the story to match.

4. V for Vendetta – While the movie adaptation couldn't possibly capture every detail of the graphic novel, it was able to trim the story, while still staying true to the dark themes of fascism and anarchy addressed in the original. To add to that, Natalie Portman's portrayal as the strong-willed heroine was packed with raw emotion, while Hugo Weaving adds a multi-dimensional personality to the masked character of V.

– Alex Natanzon