James Gunn's Superman has finally taken flight, and it's set to take the brand new DC Universe to greater heights than its predecessor. The film has earned itself a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 82%, indicating an overwhelming amount of positive reviews from critics, while audiences gave it a 95% score. It's also overperforming at the box office, suggesting that DC Studios' relaunched franchise is destined for big things.

Starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, the film reintroduces modern audiences to the original superhero in appropriately triumphant fashion. It's exactly the kind of heartfelt and hopeful movie that the world needs right now.

No doubt plenty of families will be flocking to see the classic hero's return to the silver screen. However, there are some things you should know about Superman and whether it's suitable for younger audiences.

Superman is rated PG-13 by MPAA for sequences of "action, violence, and language". That rating and those elements are commonly associated with superhero movies in today's day and age, particularly James Gunn superhero movies. Like Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise (which Gunn directed all three installments of), it is light-hearted on the surface with deeper subject matter below that, while also featuring some over-the-top action and curse words.

If you're planning on taking your kids to see the movie (or even watching on streaming after its released on those platforms), let's break it down and give you an idea of what the movie entails. Be warned that there are some mild spoilers below.

This is definitely the most prevalent of the concerning elements of Superman. Being a superhero movie, there are a lot of action scenes in there involving monsters, henchmen, and metahumans. There are also energy blasts and action-packed fist-fights. But there are some particularly graphic scenes that might be worth taking into account before taking younger audiences to see the movie.

The film opens with Superman lying in a bloody heap in the snow. He has suffered his first defeat and his lip is busted as he bleeds into the snow. Krypto arrives and begins playing with him to give it a more light-hearted tone. This scene is in a number of trailers for Superman, so you can check that one out there.

There is also a rather disturbing scene in which Superman is being held against his will and, in order to make him talk, someone is shot in the head right in front of him. The scene is shown from far away but it is an extremely heavy scene that feels somewhat out of place in a mostly light-hearted movie. It's certainly effective in portraying how serious the threat of the movie is, but it's still pretty haunting.

In a specific scene, one character bursts into a type of acid, burning a number of armed guards around them. As the guards claw at their protective face-wear, which begins melting, the film cuts away so we as the audience don't see anything too graphic. It also takes place in a dark location.

In another fight scene, one villain attempts to harm someone by flooding their lungs with black nanites that will kill them. The scene lasts a bit longer than it needs to as the substance covers the other character's face and enters their body through their mouth. It's quite intense.

Although Superman is mostly family-friendly, there are some frightening scenes in there. The one that stands out the most is a scene in which Superman must battle a giant kaiju-like beast which breathes fire and causes a lot of destruction in Metropolis. That scene can be seen in the film's trailers, so you can check it out before watching the movie if you prefer.

There is one act of the movie that takes place in a darker location. It's designed to look rather haunting and might be a little scary for younger viewers.

While it's not outside of the norm for superhero movies to feature the odd curse word or innuendo, James Gunn movies tend to dial that up just a little bit. Superman is no different as it features a number of instances where characters use bad language. Lois Lane says "sh*t" quite a lot while there are also terms such as "piss", "son of a b*tch", "hell", and "as*hole" in there.

As seen in the trailers, the Green Lantern known as Guy Gardner uses his ring to generate giant green middle finger gestures.

There are no sex scenes in Superman, nor is there any nudity. There are some romantic scenes in there, including a passionate make-out session between Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

There is one scene towards the end of the film in which a character describes someone who likes to get drunk and party. That character shows up and appears drunk in that scene.

Superman has been marketed as a traditionally uplfiting, feelgood superhero movie and the finished product lives up to that. It's true that there are occasions when it ventures into darker than usual territory, but it only ever does so to make some moments of triumph shine that much brighter.

If the movie pushed the boundaries too far, the age rating would have been changed to a more mature one, but that isn't the case. Even in the UK when a superhero movie can occasionally be rated 15 by the BBFC, Superman has earned a 12A - meaning that it's appropriate for younger audiences 12 and over but that kids under 12 can watch it when accompanied by an adult.

Of course, nobody knows your kids better than you do, so if you are on the fence, it would probably be best to watch the movie yourself before watching it with them. That said, if they are used to superhero movies and can handle some of the more mature subject matter that some of them feature, the Superman will likely be for them.