WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

except for the writing, and that failure is the Achilles’ heel that never lets this version of “The Magnificent Seven” achieve liftoff. Written by “True Detective” scribe Nic Pizzolatto alongside “Expendables” and “The Equalizer” writer Richard Wenk, “The Magnificent Seven” is long on violence and short on story, character development, motivation, and all the things that make any kind of violence satisfying to watch. Therefore, despite all the star power, charisma, and dusty heroics on screen, it’s impossible to care about any of it. The biggest problem is a failure to adequately establish the villain, Bartholomew Bogue. Sarsgaard does his sniveling best with the two scenes he is given to portray Bogue, a tyrannical capitalist who equates democracy with God with the free market, and who has seized the town of Rose Creek for the purposes of gold mining. In a pre-credits opener, we see just what a baddie he is, tormenting children, shooting up a church, and mowing down innocent citizens, but it’s just not enough to justify the endless violence that the seven return, especially since the townspeople are endangered and killed in the melee themselves. To top it off, there’s just not enough backstory and character motivation to believe that these seven would put themselves on the line for this tiny town. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

PETE’S DRAGON

1/2 PG, 102 min. Through today only at Lisbon. Wait: How did this happen? How did a remake of the 1977 Disney animation/ live-action hybrid “Pete’s Dragon,” a pushy mediocrity, become the most soulful film of the summer? — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

SNOWDEN

1/2 R, 134 minutes. Through today only at Niantic, Madison Art Cinemas, Mystic Luxury Cinemas. Still playing at Stonington, Westbrook, Lisbon. “Snowden” opens with the caveat that this is a “dramatization” of events that happened between 2004 and 2013. It’s an important message to keep in mind as Oliver Stone’s biopic of the notorious whistleblower eventually blurs the line between documentary and fiction. If Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning documentary “Citizenfour” was the technical, unflinching, non-fiction version of Edward Snowden’s explosive NSA leaks, Stone’s film is most definitely the Hollywood version. But perhaps this is the one that might resonate the most with the public at large. “Snowden” follows the life of Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), from upstart soldier in 2004, through his training and career in the CIA, and later as a contractor for the NSA, after CIA field work proved to be too intense for the brilliant, reserved young man with deeply held beliefs about morality and patriotism. His life story is intercut with Snowden’s June 2013 liaison in a Hong Kong hotel with journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto), documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and Guardian representative Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson). One thing is clear with Stone’s film — which he directed and co-wrote with Kieran Fitzgerald, adapted from the books “The Snowden Files” by Luke Harding and “The Time of the Octopus” by Anatoly Kucherena — and that’s that he regards Snowden with a decidedly uncritical eye. The billboards for the film might read, “soldier, traitor, spy, hero, hacker, patriot,” but in this film, Stone only regards Snowden as a soldier, hero and patriot. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

STORKS

1/2 PG, 89 minutes. Niantic, Mystic Luxury Cinemas, Waterford, Stonington, Westbrook, Lisbon. Welcome to the very strange, and strangely moving, world of “Storks.” Writer-director Nicholas Stoller, known for his more adult comedies, such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Neighbors,” delves into the family-friendly animated genre in a little movie about where babies come from. Or where they used to come from. In this world, the old wives tale of storks delivering bouncing bundles of joy is real history, though the birds have been relegated to delivering packages for CornerStore.com after one became too attached to a baby. Stoller teams up with experienced animator Doug Sweetland for directing duties, and the story balances the fantasy world with more mundane realities. The film starts out as a workplace sitcom, as our protagonist, Junior the stork (Andy Samberg), is fired up for a promotion from boss Hunter (Kelsey Grammar). Unfortunately, accident-prone human orphan Tulip (Katie Crown) just keeps getting in his way. She’s the baby at the center of the stork-attachment incident, and she’s been raised in the warehouse. In the human world, Nate (Anton Starkman) an only child, wishes for a baby brother to play with. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

SUICIDE SQUAD

1/2 PG-13, 130 min. Through today only at Westbrook, Waterford, Stonington. Superhero fatigue? Warner Brothers and DC Comics have a remedy for that with “Suicide Squad,” filled with characters who are decidedly uninterested in heroics. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

SULLY

1/2 PG-13, 96 minutes. Niantic, Mystic Luxury Cinemas, Waterford, Stonington, Westbrook, Lisbon. The sight of a passenger plane along the skyline of New York is an image that has been seared in the global collective consciousness. It’s a memory that “Sully,” Clint Eastwood’s new film, acknowledges, but also attempts to redefine. What if a plane skimming skyscrapers could conjure an image not just of unimaginable terror, but one of incredible heroism and skill? That’s what “Sully” might accomplish, in committing to film the heartwarming story of “The Miracle on the Hudson,” when Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger made a forced water landing on the Hudson River with 155 passengers aboard a U.S. Airways flight to Charlotte. Eastwood is an efficient, restrained and methodical filmmaker, an approach that lends well to the temperament and character of Sully, as he is portrayed by Tom Hanks. What’s remarkable about the incident as we see it on screen, is just how calm everyone remains throughout the 208 second ordeal. Perhaps because they didn’t know just how amazing this feat would be, but also because everyone is just doing their jobs very, very well. From the air traffic controller to the ferry captains to Sully himself, along with his First Officer Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) and the flight attendants, every player is professional, motivated and exceedingly helpful. Helpfulness is a simple concept, but a powerful one, and “Sully” captures the essence of what made the Miracle on the Hudson so grippingly inspiring. It’s a wonderful New York story, and Eastwood takes care to make it a story about the many different people who made it a miracle. That is the emotional core of the film, a celebration of the simple act of reaching out a helping hand without a second thought. The conflict of “Sully” is the investigation and hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board, out to detect any human error. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service PG-13. Through today only at Lisbon, Waterford. A surrogate mother (Jaz Sinclair) becomes a little too fond of the fatherto-be (Morris Chestnut). Regina Hall is the wife caught in the middle.

THE WILD LIFE

PG. Through today only at Westbrook, Lisbon. The tale of Robinson Crusoe, loosely based on the real life experiences of castaway Alexander Selkirk, has been told for hundreds of years, since Daniel Defoe’s 1719 epistolary novel. But what if Crusoe’s story had been seen from the perspective of the animals and he encountered during his shipwrecked stay on a tropical island? There’s more of a historical action-adventure storyline in the telling of Crusoe’s story, as related by curious parrot Mak (David Howard). — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service