Actor Tom Cruise and the fictional giant lizard Godzilla both emerged as winners at the 40th annual Critics Choice Super Awards. Cruise walked away with the award for Best Actor in an Action Movie for his reprisal of Ethan Matthew Hunt in last year’s Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part I, while everyone’s favorite sci-fi mutant was awarded the honor of Best Villain for the film Godzilla Minus One. Cruise enjoyed the honor for the second straight year after bringing home the prize for Top Gun: Maverick the year before.
This marks the seventh time that Cruise has played the role of intelligence officer Hunt in the popular franchise of action films. The eighth installment is set to be released later in 2024, making it possible for Cruise to win his third Critics Choice Super Award in a row. Over the course of more than four decades in film, Cruise has also been nominated for four Academy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild nominations, and three wins at the Golden Globes.
The Critics Choice Super Award wasn’t the only major honor bestowed on Godzilla Minus One this year. For the first time in history, Godzilla was nominated for an Oscar. Amazingly, the low-budget production won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
The iconic character has been the star of more than 40 films in the past 70 years, roughly the same number that Cruise has been on screen for. Unlike Godzilla, Cruise has yet to bring home the prized gold statue.
The Critics Choice Super Awards had some surprise winners this year, too. Nicholas Cage won Best Actor in a Horror Movie for Dream Scenario, edging out Tobin Bell (Saw X) and Joaquin Phoenix (Beau is Afraid). The award for Best Actress in an Action Film also surprised some fans, as the honor was given to Rebecca Furguson for her role in the latest Mission: Impossible film, topping costars Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff in the same category.
Emma Stone emerged victorious for Best Actress in a Science Fiction Film for her Oscar-winning performance in the Yorgos Lanthimos entry Poor Things. Her Poor Things co-star Mark Ruffalo, whose part in the film was also nominated for an Academy Award, took away the award for Best Actor in a Science Fiction Film.
Other winners from the 40th Annual Critics Choice Super Award were John Wick: Chapter 4 (Best Action Movie), Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse (Best Superhero Movie), Talk to Me (Best Horror Movie), and a second award for Godzilla Minus One (Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie).
The annual award ceremony also recognizes achievements on the small screen, where the HBO series The Last of Us walked away with a whopping seven awards. Among the honors given to the zombie series were Best Villain in a Series (Melanie Lynskey), Best Actor in a Horror Series (Pedro Pascal), Best Actress in a Horror Series (Bella Ramsey), and Best Horror/Limited Series/Made-for-TV Movie.