Review: Leo, JLaw Are Trying to Warn Us in ‘Don’t Look Up’

This image released by Netflix shows Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Randall Mindy, and Rob Morgan as Dr. Clayton "Teddy" Oglethorp in a scene from "Don't Look Up." (Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Randall Mindy, and Rob Morgan as Dr. Clayton "Teddy" Oglethorp in a scene from "Don't Look Up." (Netflix via AP)
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Review: Leo, JLaw Are Trying to Warn Us in ‘Don’t Look Up’

This image released by Netflix shows Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Randall Mindy, and Rob Morgan as Dr. Clayton "Teddy" Oglethorp in a scene from "Don't Look Up." (Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Randall Mindy, and Rob Morgan as Dr. Clayton "Teddy" Oglethorp in a scene from "Don't Look Up." (Netflix via AP)

You know you’re in deep doodoo when that planet-destroying comet on a collision course with Earth isn’t your biggest problem.

Your biggest problem: You’re the scientist who discovered the darned thing but nobody has the patience or the bandwidth or the political will to believe it. And it’s coming. In six months. That’s a fact.

That the comet is a stand-in for climate change is hardly a secret going into “Don’t Look Up,” Adam McKay’s exceedingly watchable, funny and star-studded yet somewhat chaotic satire. For one thing, its star is Leonardo DiCaprio, for whom climate change awareness is a passion.

What becomes clear soon enough is that the film is also about the pandemic, and vaccine resistance, and the tendency in American society for issues that have nothing to do with politics to become hopelessly political.

“Don’t Look Up” sees McKay (“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Talladega Nights”) returning to comedy after turning to darker, political themes in “The Big Short,” about the 2008 financial crisis, and “Vice,” his Dick Cheney biopic.

As those last two films showed, McKay’s filmmaking can be dazzling, brainy and so fast-moving that one had better not sneeze for even a moment. The material is less dense here — the utter simplicity of a comet headed toward Earth is the whole point, really — and nobody suddenly launches into iambic pentameter, as Christian Bale and Amy Adams memorably did in “Vice” (although come to think of it, there are actors here who’d be perfect — we have Meryl Streep and Mark Rylance, for heaven’s sake).

But while I enjoyed the mix of humor and emotion (and outright terror) — there are laugh-out-loud moments and also deeply poignant ones — some might find the tonal shifts a bit jarring. Perhaps a more valid nit to pick is that the the jampacked script doesn’t quite do all these movie stars justice. And what a group McKay has assembled: DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Streep, Cate Blanchett, Rylance, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry, among others. Not to mention Ariana Grande, who nails her performance of a hilarious theme song.

We begin at Michigan State University, where, in a terrific pre-credits sequence, astronomy grad student Kate Dibiasky (Lawrence, feisty and funny and perfect), doing some telescope work one day, is stunned to realize she’s discovered a comet.

But when her mentor, Prof. Randall Mindy (DiCaprio, toning down his charisma to portray a nerdy academic prone to panic attacks), does some calculations, he can’t believe his eyes: The “planet killer” comet will hit Earth in six months.

Soon the pair are in touch with the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (a real thing), and flying to Washington to meet with the self-involved, inept and somewhat corrupt President Orlean (Streep, with 20-something hair and pointy red glasses). In the Oval Office, nobody is too worried, least of all Orlean’s insufferable son and chief of staff, Jason (an obnoxiously funny Hill, clearly improvising much of the time). Jason is particularly dubious because Randall and Kate are not Ivy Leaguers: Watch JLaw offer to show her SAT scores.

As for POTUS, who’s in the middle of a scandal with her Supreme Court nominee, she has one, impatient question: “OK, what’s the ASK here?”

The only choice is to go to the media. That doesn’t go too well either. On a popular morning show, The Daily Rip, their hosts (Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett, having lots of fun) don’t get the point either, and the message gets lost amid memes about Randall’s nerdy attractiveness and Kate’s on-air explosion (“We’re all gonna die!” she screams.)

Meanwhile, an attempted lifesaving mission onto the comet — a la “Armageddon” — encounters its own problems. And then tech billionaire Peter Isherwall gets involved. Rylance, masterful at playing strange types, has perhaps never looked or sounded quite this weird, with his perfect hair and too-white teeth. Through this not-quite-developed character, McKay conveys his obvious disdain for the billionaires currently cavorting in space.

Then there are the conspiracy theorists. Their slogan? You guessed it: “DON’T LOOK UP.”

Finally comes the “Network” moment — the moment we’ll see in DiCaprio’s awards clip, when he breaks down on television to tell the world his own, updated version of the famous “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” speech.

If much of the movie is played for laughs, this part clearly isn’t. Nor is the stunning moment when Randall looks at the sky and finally sees the comet — terrifying but also beautiful. At these moments, and the quiet ones where McKay cuts away for lovely shots of wildlife, the film arguably works best: cutting through the clutter and showing what’s really at stake.



Comic-Con Salutes James Gunn and Gets First Looks at ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ and New ‘Star Trek’ Forays 

US actor John Cena (R) holds his helmet next to US director James Gunn during the "Peacemaker", Season 2, panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on July 26, 2025. (AFP)
US actor John Cena (R) holds his helmet next to US director James Gunn during the "Peacemaker", Season 2, panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on July 26, 2025. (AFP)
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Comic-Con Salutes James Gunn and Gets First Looks at ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ and New ‘Star Trek’ Forays 

US actor John Cena (R) holds his helmet next to US director James Gunn during the "Peacemaker", Season 2, panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on July 26, 2025. (AFP)
US actor John Cena (R) holds his helmet next to US director James Gunn during the "Peacemaker", Season 2, panel in Hall H of the convention center during Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on July 26, 2025. (AFP)

Director James Gunn got an ovation from thousands for “Superman” in the most fitting place of all — Comic-Con.

Among the highlights of day three of the San Diego pop culture spectacular was a sincere tribute to the director who's now helming Warner Bros.' DC Comics screen universe, even if John Cena played it for laughs.

It came at a panel on the forthcoming Season 2 of DC's HBO series “The Peacemaker,” and Cena appeared in the title character's full comic costume and grand helmet, leading the legions in the kind of exaggerated drama he was perfect at provoking in his wrestling days.

It was Gunn's first time in front of a crowd in the weeks since “Superman” was released and has earned more than $200 million in North America.

“Today has been the most fun day I’ve had in a year," Gunn told the crowd at the end of the session.

“Superman” was his first film as captain of the DC ship, but his first foray was in 2021's “The Suicide Squad,” which spawned the “Peacemaker” TV series.

The crowd saw scenes from Season 2, which arrives in August and sees Cena entering another dimension where he gets to be a cool version of the hero instead of the often pained and pathetic version that's typical of the character. Some characters from “Superman” will make appearances.

That panel followed another rousing showcase in Hall H, where star Ryan Gosling and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller showed scenes from their forthcoming science-comedy space adventure “Project Hail Mary.”

The scenes from the film set for release in March included a look at Rocky, a faceless, stone-shaped alien who becomes Gosling's unlikely partner in an attempt to save the universe from ecological disaster.

Saturday morning cartoons in Hall H

Wile E. Coyote is getting his day in court and theaters.

The stars of “Coyote vs. Acme” delivered a rousing presentation Saturday morning of a movie that at one point wasn’t going to be released but is now bound for theaters in August 2026. The underdog story – both of the movie and Coyote — was a running theme of the panel. But rather than direct ire at Warner Bros., the real-world studio that shelved the project, the panel focused on the fictional Acme Corp.

“This is purely an Acme decision ... and I am saying this for legal purposes,” moderator Paul Scheer said at the start of the panel.

The movie is a hybrid of animation and live action and is based on a 1990 New Yorker article that satirized a legal complaint filed by Coyote against Acme, the maker of the TNT, detonators, rocket shoes, catapults and other products that consistently backfire during the Coyote’s fruitless attempts to catch the Roadrunner.

Laughter filled Hall H as some 6,000 watched a montage of Coyote being blown up, flattened and falling into chasms in a scene set to Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt.” Coyote is replaying the moments in his lair when an ad for a personal injury lawyer appears on TV.

They also played six minutes of the movie, including a scene of opening statements in the case in which Coyote's lawyer, Will Forte, accidentally unleashes a rocket skate into the courtroom, setting Coyote and the judge's robes on fire. Cena plays a slick Acme lawyer who wins over the jury, which includes a cartoon character, quickly.

Forte said he didn't think the movie would ever get to audiences.

“I’m pretty speechless. You think back to the journey that this movie has taken. I had kind of given up hope at a certain point,” Forte said. At one point, his comments were interrupted by a man playing an Acme lawyer who stormed into Hall H with cease-and-desist letters.

Director Dave Green said the movie conforms to famed animator Chuck Jones’ rules for the struggle between the Coyote and Roadrunner, which include the bird always staying on the road and the Coyote being ultimately more humiliated than hurt when he falls, is crushed or gets blown up by TNT.

The movie, which features cameos from numerous Looney Tunes characters like Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety and Bugs Bunny, will be released on Aug. 28, 2026. Ketchup Entertainment teamed up with Warner Bros. on the film and in the release of “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie.”

Also on Saturday morning, the cast of “Bad Guys 2” teased new footage from the movie and described how they recorded their characters.

Marc Maron, who plays Snake, joked he asked to be tied up as he performed his lines on the floor. “The depth of the character should read a little more this time,” he said.

The film, based on the graphic novel series by Aaron Blabey, introduces a new crew of animal criminals, the Bad Girls played by Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne and Maria Bakalova.

‘Star Trek’ ventures to new places

Paramount showed off its first footage from a new series, “Starfleet Academy,” which stars Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti.

The show follows cadets as they go through training, with Hunter serving as chancellor of the academy.

It will arrive in 2026, the 60th anniversary year of the original “Star Trek” series.

Paramount+'s other “Star Trek” series, “Strange New Worlds,” also shared updates.

The crew of the USS Enterprise are being turned into puppets for an upcoming “Strange New Worlds” episode, Paramount announced Saturday. The puppets will be created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Season 3, which follows the adventures of the Enterprise under the command of Capt. Christopher Pike, is being released on Paramount+.