You know those DVDs that sit in a giant Walmart bin, where, if you’re so inclined, you can spend half an hour sifting for a $2 treasure? The kinds of movies usually dumped unceremoniously into theaters in January, and maybe if you’re going stir crazy you take a chance and find yourself happily surprised? “Hunter Killer” is one of those.

It’s not going to win any Oscars, or give “Halloween” a run for its money. And what it’s doing taking up valuable cineplex space in the fall is anyone’s guess. But sometimes there’s a pleasure to be had in finding one’s low expectations met and even surpassed. And since we’re already damning this one with faint praise, let’s push it further still: As Cold War submarine thrillers starring Gerard Butler go, you could do a lot worse.

South African director Donovan Marsh,...