Harry Potter finale crowned Golden Tomato-winner

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.

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.

Amongwidely released films, Deathly Hallows beat out the Brad Pitt baseball dramaMoneyballand the music and nostalgia-filled comedyThe 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 Nimabouta chimpanzee raised like a human child during the 1970splaced first with a 98 per cent positive rating. It was followed by theIranian family drama A Separationand 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:

• Action-adventure:Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
• Animation: Arthur Christmas
• Drama: Moneyball
• Horror:Attack the Block
• Kids/Family:The Muppets
• Romance: Weekend
• Thriller: Drive
• User-reviewed:50/50

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.