Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart hosted the show, opening it Mad Max style by riding through Warner Bros Studios strapped to the front of a tricked-out truck. Later, they performed a rap song about the year's films that repeated the refrain Leo got (expletive) by a bear in reference to The Revenant.
Will Smith and Melissa McCarthy each received special honours, and their heartfelt speeches were respites of sincerity in an expletive-laden show that featured more F-bombs than awards.
Smith told the audience that he is "dedicated to being a light in this world" when he accepted the show's highest honor, the Generation Award.
"I want to help people," Smith said after being introduced by Queen Latifah and Halle Berry. "I want to be a light. I want to display love. I want to play roles that have dignity. I want to help in this world."
via GIPHY
McCarthy, who crowd-surfed her way to the stage to claim the Comedic Genius Award, said that while she is the first woman to receive the recognition, "I am certainly, certainly not the first one to deserve it."
She thanked everyone who buys tickets to her movies or watches her shows. "You are absolutely the single reason I get to keep doing what I love doing so much," she said.
Charlize Theron won the first award of the night: best female performance for Mad Max: Fury Road. She thanked the film's director, her son, Jackson, and daughter, August.
"The story of Fury Road is in part a story of the power of women and the power to create our own destinies," Theron said as she accepted the award in her daughter's name.
Other winners included Chris Pratt (action performance for Jurassic World), Amy Poehler (virtual performance as Joy in Inside Out) and Straight Outta Compton, which won for true story. Ryan Reynolds won two prizes for Deadpool: comedic performance and best fight, which he shared with Ed Skein.
Reynolds said he worked for 10 years to get Deadpool made, but he added that "it was not all unicorns and cocaine" during production.
- AP
