Echo

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.

After reading some reviews on this movie, we did not have high expectations. However, we thought we'd give it a shot anyway, as we tend to often not like movies that "the masses" praise anyway. We loved this film. The home-made video style made it feel real, the characters were funny, natural and believable. The actors were also unknown to us - often a plus. There was a nice little dose of suspense and action, and the moral message was appealing to our sense of values regarding other living beings. The bittersweet ending also sat well with us. Thoroughly enjoyed by a preteen, teenager and mom. Highly recommend giving this film a chance. It's not all Hollywood, cars don't blow up, there's no profanity or violence, but it's adorable, and cool enough for a teenage dude.

I really liked this film. It's a fun Kids adventure in the vein of Goonies, Big, No Batteries Required or The Last Star Fighter. I guess similarities could be drawn with ET but only in as far as it's a Sci Fi film with kids in it. It's funny, well acted by the kids and I found it heart warming and exciting. Its not so much "found footage" as shot and narrated by the kids themselves but in a far more watchable way. I guess if you're not a fan of that then his isn't the film for you. It's not big budget but in now way is it "low budget". It relies on the actors to tell the story and on the story itself, not on millions of pounds worth of special effects. What special effects it uses are very well done and integrated seamlessly. Definitely worth watching!!!

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.