"Earth to Echo" Review

Earth to Echo

 2.5 out of 5 stars

 Family appropriateness rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
 Rated PG
 -Mild language
 -Mild violence
 -Mild sexual content










"Earth to Echo" is no "E.T. The Extraterrestrial," but it certainly tries to be.

Alex (Teo Halm), Tuck (Brian "Astro" Bradley) and Munch (Reese Hartwig) are three friends who are about to be separated because of a new highway system being built where they live. They want to make the most of what little time they have together, and an opportunity for adventure comes their way when their phones act up. After some investigation, they discover that a map has been transmitted to them. This leads the boys to a small, robot-looking, alien life form, which they name Echo. It needs to repair its ship to get home, and the boys spend an entire night to help it do so.

In the middle of the film, another character named Emma (Ella Wahlestedt), tags along. This movie deserves props for having a strong female character. She gets information that the boys never thought of getting. It is funny that Tuck is the self-appointed leader of the group, but she is much more competent than him. The movie does not delve much into this aspect, but he gets jealous of her.

The movie was filmed in the same style as a found-footage production, much like "Paranormal Activity" and "Cloverfield." However, I do not think it can be appropriately called that because as far as anyone knows, no one really found it. Tuck is the one who is filming everything, and he also narrates it. Because of this, he is the only one -- besides Emma -- who is given very much depth. It is easy to connect with him and his sadness over his friends moving away because I have been in that situation before. He is also the person who instigates everything, and the rest of the group follows along.

The filmmakers clearly tried to make this like "The Goonies" by adding a slightly chunky kid named Munch, who Tuck describes as "weird" in his narration. There are habits he has that are a little odd -- like hoarding behavior -- and it is briefly revealed that his mother is going through a divorce. Other than that, the film does not give a lot away as to how or why he is described that way. There is very little depth to him, and he is pretty much just the wuss of the group.

A problem with this film is it relies on telling who these characters are rather than showing them. This is especially true of Alex. I think he is supposed to be the rebel, free thinker of the group, but that is just because of what other characters say about him. He seems to be the person who Echo likes the most, but there is no reason given as to why this is.

The character design of Echo is slick and visually appealing. It would have been nice to have seen it for more of the film. It does not get a lot of screen time, and therefore it is not given much characterization. This movie would have been so much better had the writers focused on giving it a personality. The kids just find it and do everything they can to help simply because it will not harm them. They do not get to know the alien at all, which makes the conclusion less emotionally satisfying than what it aims for.

This movie would have benefited had it not been a "found-footage" film. It does not seem like any of the actors know what to do in this style of film making. This is partly because the main actors are very young and inexperienced, but even some of the adult actors give laughable performances. There is very little that feels believable. It is like watching people try to act.

My theory is had this film not been "found footage," it would have been too much like "Super 8," a much better film that was released in 2011. That movie has essentially the same idea: a group of minors making a movie find some strange alien activity. The way the alien ship works in both films is even similar. The differences are that the 2011 film is done like an actual movie with professional cameras, the acting is far superior and the characters are developed a lot better with well-defined personalities. If I were you, I would save money on this and watch "Super 8." It may not be as appropriate for families, but it is a lot better.

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