Quick takes: Sunshine, Zodiac

Sunshine: It boldly reaches for the gravity and spectacle of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and although the plot finally stumbles, Sunshine is worth seeing for its ambition alone. Fifty years from now, the sun is dying prematurely and a small crew is piloting a bomb into its center to rejuvenate it. They seem to half expect doom from the minute we meet them, holed up in a tiny craft protected from the burning rays by a huge shield that makes thundering noises as its tiles shift around. This is a space story for the age of global warming and shuttle accidents, more interested in survival than in aspirations. Danny Boyle's breathless direction, set to a great soundtrack, is the best special effect here. A strong ensemble cast and editing jolts by Chris Gill add to the experience. It's too bad writer Alex Garland gave up on the psychological drama among the crew and went for an easy, implausible ending. The first two-thirds of Sunshine is blistering hot.

Zodiac: David Fincher's story of the long hunt for the Zodiac, a 1970s serial killer, sweats the kinds of details that Sunshine avoids. The murders themselves, and even the murderer, are just the triggers that set the story in motion. Over nearly three hours, Zodiac tracks a reporter, a detective and a cartoonist as they track the mysterious killer who sent cryptic messages to local newspapers. When the killings stop and the protagonists keep sifting through clues year after year, it becomes clear they're after something more than justice. They get older and so does Northern California, which has rarely been captured with such perfect pitch. Starting in a leafy suburb in the summer of 1969 and ending decades later, Zodiac carries a strong undercurrent of innocence lost.