The final instalment of the Harry Potter film series has earned the top Golden Tomato Award from popular website Rotten Tomatoes, which named the teen wizard thriller 2011's best-reviewed movie.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, which earned more than $1.3 billion US at the global box office and was 2011's highest-grossing movie title, was tops among film critics over the past year, earning 96 per cent positive reviews, organizers said.

"It is the best reviewed Harry Potter of all. The other ones have had a Golden Tomato for best sci-fi film, but this is the first to win the wide-release award," said site editor-in-chief Matt Atchity, according to Reuters.

Golden Tomato Awards: Top 2011 wide-release films

  1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
  2. Moneyball
  3. The Muppets
  4. Drive
  5. Hugo
  6. Midnight in Paris
  7. Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
  8. Source Code
  9. 50/50
  10. Bridesmaids
Golden Tomato Awards: Top 2011 limited-release films
  1. Project Nim
  2. A Separation
  3. The Artist
  4. Poetry
  5. The Interrupters
  6. Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone
  7. Le Havre
  8. Cave of Forgotten Dreams
  9. Bill Cunningham New York
  10. Born To Be Wild

Deathly Hallows, which wrapped the decade-spanning Harry Potter series, emerged on top overall as well as in the science fiction and fantasy film category.

Among widely released films, Deathly Hallows beat out the Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball and the music and nostalgia-filled comedy The Muppets, which came in second and third, respectively.

The Harry Potter win breaks a Disney/Pixar streak, as the animated film studio had won the top Golden Tomato honour consecutively for four years prior (for Toy Story 3 in 2010, Up in 2009, Wall-E in 2008 and Ratatouille in 2007).

Among films that had limited theatrical release, the documentary Project Nim — about a chimpanzee raised like a human child during the 1970s — placed first with a 98 per cent positive rating. It was followed by the Iranian family drama A Separation and the much-touted silent film homage The Artist.

Those films also fared well in the genre-specific breakdowns, with Project Nim atop the documentary category, The Artist first among comedy films and A Separation crowned winner among foreign-language titles.

Other 2011 Golden Tomato Award-winners included:

The Golden Tomato honour is a point of pride for filmmakers, with the Disney/Pixar team keeping their trophies in the same case as their Oscars, Atchity told Reuters.