Movies playing at Valley theaters Sept. 30-Oct. 6

The rating system: ☆☆☆☆, excellent; ☆☆☆, good; ☆☆, so-so; ☆, poor; zero stars, terrible. Unless noted otherwise, reviews are by Bee critic Rick Bentley. Check movie times: http://calendar.fresnobee.com/

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Deepwater Horizon Disaster on an oil rig puts crew in a fight for survival. Kurt Russell stars.

Masterminds Man who steals $17 million must track down criminals who double-crossed him.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Young boy discovers a refuge for children with special abilities.

Nikka Zaildar Sonam Bajwa stars in this film directed by Simerjit Singh.

Queen of Katwe Young Uganda woman trains to be chess champion.

Ben-Hur Jack Huston stars in the story of a prince who is falsely accused of treason and ends up a slave. Not reviewed.

The BFG (☆☆☆): A gentle giant and a spunky young girl join forces. “The BFG” brings together one of the most applauded writers of children’s books, Roald Dahl, with award-winning director Steven Spielberg. Dahl’s story looks at a spunky young girl, Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), who lives in a British orphanage and prowls the halls at night acting as if she were in command. It stands tall on its own but comes up short when compared to other giants in the Spielberg catalog. Rated PG (rude humor, peril), 115 minutes.

Bridget Jones’s Baby (☆☆☆) British publishing executive (Renee Zellweger) is in her 40s. Zellweger is charming as ever. Rated R (language, sex refrences, nudity). 122 minutes. (Lindsey Bahr, AP)

Central Intelligence ☆☆☆1/2): Reuniting with an old friend pulls a man into the spy world. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart star. The combination of the muscle and mirth Johnson brings to “Central Intelligence” with Hart’s controlled energy makes the spy film a sure summer hit. Rated PG-13 (crude humor, nudity, language). 114 minutes.

Don’t Breathe Attempts to rob a blind man go horribly wrong. Not reviewed.

Ghostbusters (1/2): Team is formed to stop the host of ghosts in the city. There's something strange in the neighborhood and it's the way director-writer Paul Feig handled the reboot. Instead of taking the classic franchise and making it a unique product, he settles for a story that lacks originality. The only sparks of interest are the endless cameo appearances and references to the original film. Rated PG-13 (crude humor, action scenes). 105 minutes.

Hands of Stone (☆☆1/2): The film is a sprawling yet fairly conventional biopic about the Panamanian boxing champion Roberto Duran. Rated R (language, sexuality, nudity). 105 minutes. (Lindsey Bahr, AP).

Hell or High Water (☆☆☆☆): Two men rob Texas banks to pay their mortgage. Chris Pine stars. The film, a modern-day twist on the Robin Hood approach to economic equality, rides superb writing, Oscar-caliber performances and a serious social message to such grandeur as to make it one of the best pictures of 2016. Although the theme could have been preachy, it manages to make a monumental statement with quiet reserve and compassion. Rated R (violence, language, brief sexuality). 102 minutes.

Kubu and the Two Strings (☆☆☆): A young boy must use magic to save himself and his village. The latest visual feast served up by Laika is a blend of action and emotion set in a fantasy world of the Far East. Told through stunning backdrops and fanciful stop-motion animation, the film looks at Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson), a young boy who lives a very spartan life surviving on the stories he tells to those living in a small seaside town. Rated PG (scary inages, action scenes). 101 minutes.

The Legend of Tarzan (☆☆☆): The jungle king must return to his country on a rescue mission. The latest look at the vine-swinging character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs takes a more civilized approach. Swedish hunk Alexander Skarsgård plays the title role with cinema’s current reigning beauty, Margot Robbie, as his spunky Jane. The pair are the best-looking couple to hang with the animals in a beautiful jungle setting since Adam and Eve. “The Legend of Tarzan” is not the king of jungle movies, but it is presented with such royal reverence that some people will go ape over it. Rated PG-13 (violence, action scenes). 109 minutes.

Lights Out (☆☆☆1/2): An older sister tries to stop an entity that once haunted her from harming her brother. Sell all your stocks immediately and invest in companies that make candles, flashlights, lightbulbs or anything else that creates illumination. There’s going to be a run on those items with the release of “Lights Out.” Director David F. Sandberg has teamed with writer Eric Heisserer to create a film that proves it is possible to generate long-lasting scares without resorting to gore. Rated R (violence, scary scenes). 81 minutes.

The Magnificent Seven (☆☆☆) Seven gunmen come to the aid of a small village. Denzel Washington stars in this remake. Living up to the original is an almost impossible task. The remake tries to match the star power with Washington and Chris Pratt, but the overall lineup eventually pales in comparison. Washington brings the controlled swagger that makes his character believable as the leader of this group. It helps that the screenwriter is Richard Wenk, who understands how to write for Washington. Rated PG-13 (violence, language, smoking). 132 minutes.

Nerve (1/2): High school senior gets involved with an online game that features more and more dangerous truth-or-dares. Emma Roberts stars. Rated PG-13 (brief nudity, language, drinking). 96 minutes.

Nine Lives: Business man finds himself stuck inside the body of a cat. Kevin Spacey stars. Not reviewed.

No Manches Frida Thief tries to recover the loot from a robbery but a school has been built over the spot he buried the money. Not reviewed.

Snowden (☆☆1/2) Whistleblower steals and releases millions of bits of classified material. Just like the world, filmmaking doesn’t have to be black and white. But when it comes to Oliver Stone, who has always been very clear about his points of view, the lines just aren’t sharp enough. Rated R (language, sexual situations). 133 minutes.

Star Trek Beyond (☆☆☆1/2): The Enterprise faces a new threat at the edges of the uncharted space. Rated PG-13 (violence, action scenes). 120 minutes.

Storks (☆☆☆☆) After years of being out of the baby-delivery business, one stork must make a very important delivery. The film manages to deliver on many levels, from broad comedy to a sweet family story. There’s a lot going on in this tale of a world where storks have been made to deliver packages from a superstore. But directors Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland layer the elements in such a way that one just makes the other stronger. Rated PG (mild violence). 92 minutes.

Suicide Squad (☆☆): A group of villains that include the Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) go on a mission. “Suicide Squad,” the latest fumbled movie offering based on a DC Comics franchise, has only two things going for it. The most noteworthy is Robbie, who brings a wonderful crazy energy to her role. The character has been immensely popular since debuting in “Batman: The Animated Series” in 1992, and Robbie is flawless. Rated PG-13 (violence, sexual situations) 126 minutes.

Sully (☆☆☆) Pilot becomes a hero when he is forced to make a water landing in the Hudson River. Tom Hanks stars. You would have had to be living in a cave not to know how this story ends. But the film delivers a compelling story of what it means to make monumental decisions without time to think, the real difference between a hero and someone doing his or her job and how even the strongest people in a crisis can eventually doubt themselves. Rated PG-13 (languague, peril). 96 minutes.

3 Weeks in Yerevan (☆☆☆) Crew goes to Armenia to film a movie but faces multiple hurdles. The movie achieves three very important goals. It shows that films made in Armenia should be able to find an American audience. It also reveals that there aren’t a lot of differences when it comes to making movies no matter where the project is based. And, it serves as a beautiful glimpse of Armenia that should be used by the tourism board. Not rated. 92 minutes.

When the Bow Breaks A surrogate begins to fixate on the husband. Morris Chestnut stars. Not reviewed.

The Birth of a Nation Nat Turner orchestrates an uprising after seeing multiple atrocities.

The Girl on a Train Woman who watches an ideal family during her commute becomes involved in a murder investigation.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life Young boy uses his wits to deal with his principal and bullies.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Movies playing at Valley theaters Sept. 30-Oct. 6."