‘Force Awakens,’ ‘Deadpool’ Win Big at 2016 MTV Movie Awards
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deadpool, Pitch Perfect 2 and Jurassic World were among the winners at this year’s always eclectic MTV Movie Awards, hosted by Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The pair opened the show with an outrageous Mad Max: Fury Road homage, entering the Warner Bros. backlot on an outsized battle rig and surrounded by a horde of War Boys. Topping it all off, Hart was strapped to the front — à la Max Rockatansky, but with far more screaming — while Johnson stood atop the rig rocking a flame-thrower guitar.
Later on, Hart and Johnson busted out a rap honoring the Movie Awards’ 25th anniversary, celebrating some of the show’s strangest moments — like Jon Lovitz and Courteney Cox co-hosting in 1995 — as well as the past year in film. Notably the duo name-checked The Revenant while surrounded by a group of dancers in bear costumes and debuted the sure-to-be memorable hook, “You’ll always remember where you were when Leo got fucked by a bear.”
The Force Awakens took home the night’s biggest bucket of popcorn for Movie of the Year, while two of its stars also garnered trophies: Daisy Ridley for Best Breakthrough Performance for her turn as Rey, and Adam Driver for Best Villain for playing the nefarious Kylo Ren.
Deadpool, Jurassic World and Pitch Perfect 2 were the only other movies to take home more than one bucket of golden popcorn. Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds won Best Comedic Performance for his turn as the titular Marvel hero, and he shared Best Fight with Ed Skrein, who played Ajax. Meanwhile Jurassic World‘s Chris Pratt picked up Best Male Performance and Best Action Performance.
The cast of Pitch Perfect 2 meanwhile shared the golden popcorn for Best Ensemble Cast, while co-stars Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine won the coveted Best Kiss trophy.
Elsewhere, the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton won the inaugural trophy for Best True Story, while Charlize Theron won Best Female Performance for Fury Road, Jennifer Lawrence Best Hero for The Hunger Games: Mockingly — Part 2 and Amy Poehler Best Virtual Performance for voicing Joy in Pixar’s Inside Out.
The 2016 MTV Movie Awards also handed out special trophies to Will Smith and Melissa McCarthy. Smith was given the Generation Award and was honored with a medley by the Lonely Island and touching speeches by Queen Latifah and Halle Berry.
McCarthy became the first female recipient of the Comedic Genius Award, crowd-surfing her way to the stage and name-checking a slew of female comedians that inspired her — as well as her mother. “My mom, Sandy Lynn McCarthy, taught me not to fear being the butt of the joke and taught me not to worry about being likable or perfect, and to lovingly go for the kill.”
The night also featured two stunning musical performances. Rising pop singer Halsey gave her Badlands song “Castle” a chilling live debut, while while Ariana Grande followed with a stunning, stripped down version of her new single, “Dangerous Woman.”