Earth to Echo

Kids movies seem to be monopolized these days by Disney with their numerous animated masterpieces acting as a beacon for families to flock to the theater. Yet there are a few studios outside of the enterprise that still dare to dream and break the mold. My review focuses on Relativity Media's latest production of Earth To Echo, a science fiction journey for the new age. Now from first trailers and a few reviews, the description is pretty much a new version of E.T. with less organic alien and more Wall-E. Yet I wanted to get a look myself at what this feature had to answer the question: Is it really just an E.T. knock off, or is there something more? What were my thoughts? Read on to find out.

In agreement with my fellow reviewers, I do agree that Echo has a lot of similarities to Spielberg's original work. The story in particular matches the classic tale of earthlings, in this case kids, stumbling upon an alien life form stranded on our majestic planet. It's goal? Merely to find it's way home and avoid harming humans in the process. From there though, the tale becomes a patchwork of references to other movies, whose qualities we haven't seen for some time. Now this takes away from the originality I will agree, but I was pleased with the integration. Movies today tend to forgo the art of story telling for the top of the line CGI and special effects, hoping the visuals and "action" will please the audience. Earth to Echo returns to what the classics do though, bringing about simplistic shots and sequences and focusing on the adventure. The simplistic journey of riding bikes into the unknown pays tribute to E.T., while the bonds of true friendship and enjoying the time of youth references The Goonies; both movies that are still in high demand to this day. One gets brought into the adventure from the first person perspective of video cameras, ala Cloverfield, adding further depth to the movie to bring you deeper into the tale.

Although simplistic and predictable, the adventure is fun and entertaining for kids and the kid at heart. It takes one back to the days of exploring the world around you, grabbing your toys and gadgets and creating quests from the mundane world. For reviewers like me, such adventure is the true magic of movies, and brings fun and enjoyment that modern films seem to lack these days. Packed into the adventure are some deeper morals, built around the characters' problems, which are the typical back-stories you see in most tales, i.e. neglect and abandonment issues. These morals though are very touching, and gave me goose bumps as the issues resolved themselves. Sure the presentation is a bit cheesy, overdramatized with just the right music to get the emotions going, but I still think it was well executed to drive the point home. Those looking for twists and turns are going to be disappointed in this film, as there are none present, which is pretty typical for a kids movie.

Of course with how much fun I had in the movie, there are some faults that older fans might get caught up on. First thing is the fact of the kid's leaving the house, which becomes completely unnoticed nor questioned by anyone. Such negligence is rather comical, but I guess necessary to allow for unrestricted access to the frontier. The second weakness comes in the fact that these kids manage to travel miles of open highway in the span of a few hours on just bicycles. Now we see this in the tour de France, but the mileage they cover takes days not hours. The convenient lack of cars on a major highway is something else that is a bit stretched as well, and when it is populated no one seems to have any concerns or hesitation to stop. A third weakness is how easy the kids were able to get in/break in to businesses and again the lack of questions or obstacles they had to face. Apparently everyone in this town are idiots because the kids were able to get away with felonies at the drop of a hat. As for the first person camera angle, it is much more stable than some of the films, but there are a few points where it gets dizzying, often when they are doing a panorama shot or fleeing from the cops. Finally comes Echo, the little robot is adorable, his squeaks and infantile design will met the hearts for most of the people coming to this film. While a bit of a knockoff of Wall-E's Eve, the little dude will most likely have action figures and stuffed toys coming soon. Unfortunately you don't see much of the little guy as the movie tends to focus on the boys and his outer shell than the actual robot. I assume they cut his time short, to save some money, but for a movie about a robot, well you expect a little more screen time for their hard work.

While Earth to Echo is not the most original movie, it takes a step back to the art of storytelling while maintaining some technological features. The kids they hired to act did a nice job, and all the other mentioned elements are combined to bring one into a fun adventure. Honestly, this may have been the first movie I've had fun seeing in a long time. While there are some stretches here and there, and their title star was lacking, I think this a great movie to see.

My scores for Earth to Echo are:

Adventure/Family/Sci-Fi: 8.0 Movie Overall: 7.0

This film is something like ET meets Wall-E, in a modern style. Solid entertainment for kids and people who don't care about realism that much. I do enjoyed the film and it definitely deserves a better rating than 5.8 (the actual IMDb-rating) Don't get bothered by the people complaining this movie is just a bad copy of ET. It is done for people who are young right now wanting to enjoy a solid movie and not the old ones living in the past. Sure ET, the old Indiana Jones movies and the other stuff was great, but that doesn't mean new movies are bad by definition.

Whatever, if you want to enjoy some light entertainment made for kids you can definitely be happy with this one - but don't expect a mindblowing classic ;)

Filmed in the popular "found-footage" fashion, Earth to Echo is a refreshingly original family film that I enjoyed as much as my kids.

Funny with lots of heart, the movie was really well done, with great acting from the mostly young cast. The kids acted and spoke like real kids. Dealing with real problems like divorce, adoption, awkwardness with the opposite sex, and having to move away from friends, there is a lot here for the audience to relate to.

I initially thought that there wasn't a whole lot of character development with the Echo character, but in hindsight, the movie had little to do with Echo and more to do with the kids' journey - on their last night together - to get Echo home.

Too often do I find myself nodding off at these kids movies. This isn't the kid movie you think it is. Lots of action, suspense, and humor - with an edge, yet I'm pretty sure there is no profanity...and no violence. Here is a little gem that I fear that will get lost in the mix of all of the other Summer blockbusters, but hopefully a little word-of-mouth can make this a surprise hit.

I was really excited about this movie after watching the trailer. Unfortunately, I think the trailer picked up the most stable of the shots.

Although there was a strong resemblance to E.T., and I could relate to The Goonies too a little bit, the movie got off to a good start and it maintained the pace throughout.

Three buddies, Tuck, Alex and Munch are soon to be separated by a construction project causing their families to move. Tuck, an amateur videographer almost always has a camera handy and tapes all moments with his friends. A few days before the move, all their cell phones start behaving weirdly. Alex discovers it's a map and soon their last night together turns into an adventure. Tuck tapes the whole adventure and we see the story from whatever was taped (found footage).

Cons: 1. Shaky cam - I'm usually neutral to shaky cam. I know it's supposed to be amateur footage, but why subject the audience to a dizzying IMAX screen of shaky cam the entire length of the movie? I was fortunately sitting in the back but I felt sorry for the people in the front rows. If you're prone to motion sickness, do not watch this. Even I take better videos than this with my hand-held camera.

2. Screen time of Echo - Given that the movie is about an alien, the screen time of Echo is very less. I would have loved to see more of Echo definitely. The departure of Echo is rather abrupt.

3. Unnecessary character - Emma was definitely a purposefully introduced and totally unnecessary character.

Pros: 1. Good acting - By all the three kids. They did their part well.

2. Good soundtrack - I think the music plays only for a few minutes in the movie but I liked it.

3. Good graphics - The graphics were really nice. Echo and rest of the sequences were well done.

Like another review, I would consider this more of a good rental movie than one that's good to see in the theater.

In a lot of ways, you've seen it all before. Earth To Echo lifts the plot from E.T. (an extraterrestrial being enlists the help of ordinary kids to find his way home), scrounges up its characters from any number of coming-of-age films, and shoots it all in the found-footage format that has become all the rage in recent years. The story is simple and predictable, the outcome hardly ever in doubt. And yet, Earth To Echo conjures up a unique charm of its own, finding plenty of heart and humour in the friendships between a trio of small boys teetering on the brink of growing up.

The film opens in a perfectly ordinary suburban neighbourhood in America, one that's about to be levelled for the construction of a brand new highway. This does not sit well, of course, with a trio of best buddies who must move away from one another: cocky, camera-crazy Tuck (Brian 'Astro' Bradley); sensitive foster child Alex (Teo Halm); and nervous, earnest Munch (Reese Hartwig). The day before the moving trucks arrive, the boys decide to investigate a mystery: their phones have been scrambled with what looks like a map. Their discovery brings them a new friend - the pining Echo of the film's title - but also a host of stern, unwavering adults determined to keep Echo grounded.

It's not much of a plot, and Earth To Echo marches forward with near-resolute predictability. There's a scared kid who wants to turn back (Munch), an argument threatens to break up a friendship (Tuck leaves Alex behind at a crucial point, which touches a sore nerve), they pick up a fourth wheel in the form of feisty Emma (Ella Wahlestedt). Some of the messages suggested in the havoc and chaos of the film, especially when Echo's enemies on Earth draw closer, are a little murky. Not one of the adults comes across as a fully-rounded character: they're played either as outright villains or peripheral comic relief.

That being said, there's an undeniable spark of life to the film, one shaded with the electric charge and colour of childhood: a time when friends made are friends made for life, and moral choices come in far fewer shades of grey. Viewed through the eyes of its young protagonists - and their counterparts in the audience - the film is a rollicking joy-ride, bursting with energy and packed with thrilling action beats. Echo, too, is wonderfully designed, a tiny, adorable bundle of metallic beeps and chirps. The found-footage approach gets a little belaboured by the end, switching perspectives from spy-cam to security footage, but it also allows intimate, cheeky access to this little band of brothers.

The film rests quite squarely upon the shoulders of its young actors, and they are very good indeed. In fact, they seem almost perfectly at home in front of the various cameras, their banter so natural that it feels improvised rather than scripted. Halm shines as brooding heartthrob-in-the-making Alex, his personal history bonding him almost instantly with poor, lonely Echo. Bradley is all swagger, his bossiness barely concealing the almost casual neglect he suffers at home. The real standout, however, is Hartwig, who invests Munch with a big, quaking heart: he brings to vivid life a little boy who would ordinarily be the butt of many a playground joke, but who, alongside his best buddies, gets to be something of a hero here.

There's no denying that Earth To Echo will feel terribly familiar in parts, and painfully predictable in others. But it's a film that manages to charm and surprise in spite of itself: the characters are lively, the story engaging, and the special effects far better than some earlier scenes would suggest. It operates with plenty of modern trappings - each kid has a smartphone, cameras are everywhere - but is really a sweet, old-fashioned story about the deep, magical friendships forged in the heart and fire of childhood.