“Straight Outta Compton” shines at MTV Movie Awards

The cast of “Straight Outta Compton” finally got their moment. After being famously snubbed at the 'all-white' Oscars, “Straight Outta Compton” won for best true story at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards this weekend.

The ensemble film about the seminal hip-hop group N.W.A., which was only nominated for best original screenplay at the Oscars, was nominated for three awards at the Sunday night MTV show — true story, breakthrough performance for O'Shea Jackson Jr. and movie of the year.

Jackson was joined by his “Compton” co-stars Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge and Neil Brown Jr., plus original N.W.A. member DJ Yella, on stage to accept the first award. DJ Yella gave a shoutout to all of N.W.A., including the late Eazy-E who was portrayed by Mitchell in the film.

“I would just like to take a moment to thank the Academy — I mean MTV,” Mitchell said at the award show, held on the Warner Bros. back-lot, and then one of his co-stars interrupted him in a clearly-planned skit that was meant to call out the Academy for their lack of recognising the film. Thanking MTV, Mitchell added: “You've all been pioneers for the N.W.A.”

Later in the show, Will Smith was honoured with the Generation Award. Smith had also failed to receive a nomination at the Oscars for his performance in “Concussion”.

“Will is a champion for diversity,” award presenter Halle Berry said, appearing to hold back tears.

“Straight Outta Compton” lost out to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” for Movie of the Year, and Daisy Ridley beat Jackson for the Breakout Performance award. Charlize Theron won Best Female Performance for “Mad Max: Fury Road”, while Chris Pratt won the Best Male Performance (“Jurassic World”). Best Comedic Performance went to Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool”). In the gender-neutral Best Hero category, Jennifer Lawrence emerged victorious for her swansong performance as Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2”. Adam Driver, who played the brooding Sith Lord Kylo Ren in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, won best villain. “Amy” won Best documentary, while the Best Fight category was won by Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) vs. Ajax (Ed Skrein) in “Deadpool”.

Other highlights of the event included a rap by the host duo of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart about Leonardo DiCaprio's fight with the bear in “The Revenant”, and an extended trailer for upcoming DC film “Suicide Squad”, giving a closer look into Jared Leto's Joker.