Does DC Studios finally have a hit?

With his “Superman” reboot, new DC Studios head honcho James Gunn is singing a different tune: Happy days are here again. 

The “Guardians of the Galaxy” director’s candy-coated film is unrecognizable, thank Zod, from Zack Snyder’s dark and dreary “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” 

Those interminable slogs were more frigid than the Fortress of Solitude.

Moody talking statue Henry Cavill has been swapped out for quirky, uptempo David Corenswet — an instantly likable upgrade.

The color scheme is popsicle vibrant, rather than the past several entries that were so ashen the characters appeared to have just rolled around in a fireplace.

Composer John Williams’ optimistic “duh-duh-DAH!” theme music from the 1970s and ‘80s returns to rouse and inspire. What a welcome break from Hans Zimmer’s bass-heavy emo grumbling. 

And the zany story, which could’ve been cribbed from a cartoon, gets that “Superman” is a comic book — not the New Testament in Spandex. The superhero genre’s frequent, off-putting, walks-on-water self-importance is nowhere to be found.  

For a change of pace, you leave the entertaining “Superman” not confused or clobbered, but feeling good. 

Kudos to Kal-El.

However, Gunn’s spruced-up Metropolis isn’t always a cinematic utopia. The director goes overboard with silliness at times. Some lines could be from the furry mouth of Rocket the Raccoon, a couple of the alien monsters are a tad too Pixar-esque, and, of course, there’s the requisite fight scene set to pop music. 

It’s a peppy three-ring-circus style that “Guardians” and “The Suicide Squad” viewers will recognize right away. Some will spit it out like Brussels sprouts.

But if a handful of flat jokes are what it takes to finally pump some optimism, fun and joy back into the “Superman” franchise, I can live with that.

Further parting ways with Richard Donner’s 1978 classic starring Christopher Reeve, and “Man of Steel,” this “Superman” is refreshingly not a cradle-to-cape origin story. 

We meet Clark Kent as he is already famously super, dating feisty Daily Planet co-worker Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and trying to live up to the noble mission his parents sent him to Earth to accomplish.

Clark is the ultimate nice guy. He lives to serve, and his vocab is squeaky clean. “What the hey!” he shouts. “Good gosh!”

But, because of meddlesome arch-nemesis Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), poor Clark and the world learn that there was a sinister secret lurking behind his Kryptonian mom and dad’s plan. Shocked and deceived, humanity turns on him.

So, Clark’s gotta save himself, thwart Lex’s world domination plot and prevent the annihilation of the globe. Just another day at the office.

Speaking of workplaces: Typing away at The Planet, Corenswet’s Clark and Brosnahan’s Lois are as perfect a romantic pairing as paper and ink. 

They spar and spark. She envies his journalistic upper hand of, well, being Superman. They’re a sexy pitstop in an otherwise innocent action movie.

Clark’s helped out by the Justice Gang — the Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). Their very funny comic relief reminded me of “Mystery Men.” But Gathegi especially lives up to his role’s name.

Hoult’s take on Luthor is a petulant start-up boss who still acts precocious in his thirties. He’s no Gene Hackman, but he makes the iconic part his own.

The MVP, though, is a pooch: Krypto the dog. For a CGI pup, Krypto is 100% believable as he licks, sniffs and subdues baddies. He’s sweet and lovably belligerent. He steals scenes like they’re tennis balls covered in drool.

“Superman” marks the start of a new run of DC movies after a conveyor belt of trainwrecks. And it’s a hopeful beginning. What’s best about Gunn’s movie is its laser-focused on relatable characters. This is no puzzle piece in a universe or a loud series of action set pieces.

Marvel could learn from it.

Corenswet, who’ll explode now, makes us care deeply about Clark’s search for identity and purpose. The truth is, if we’re not invested in the person, the fact that they’ve saved the world is inconsequential. In a movie, it’s their personal victory that matters. 

That’s partly why Snyder’s films were so chilly.

But more than once during Gunn’s “Superman,” after our guy Clark rescued someone in distress and floated triumphantly in midair as the score swelled behind him, I got a sensation that’s become increasingly rare in this tired old genre: Chills.