Earth To Echo

Earth To Echo is a pale imitation of children’s films of the 1980s. The DNA of E.T., The Goonies, Stand By Me and even Flight of the Navigator are here, yet this film lacks their appeal. Whereas those great ’80s films share characters’ innocence and camaraderie, Echo force feeds heart and sentiment and has no idea how to make it genuine. And the camera work is nauseating.

This is a movie made for kids with all the sophistication of a movie made by kids. Munch (Reese Hartwig), Alex (Teo Halm) and Tuck (Brian “Astro” Bradley) are three friends in the same neighborhood whose block is about to be destroyed to make room for a freeway.This does not sit well with the boys, all of whom are good kids. These are the only friends Munch has ever had, Alex is a foster kid who’s always had to move and Tuck is ignored by his family, so these are the only people he can relate to.

With interference blocking their cell phone reception but ominously providing a map to a remote area, the boys, on what they believe is their last night together, venture 20 miles out of town on their bikes to the Nevada desert. There they find a tiny robot alien buried in the dirt, befriend it, call it Echo, and help it restore its spaceship so it can return home. Obstacles abound, including adults who want to capture and experiment on Echo, and a girl named Emma (Ella Wahlestedt) who may or may not be helpful.

As you can see the E.T. connections are plentiful, right down to Echo rescuing the children from peril (one sequence, in which Echo saves the kids from an oncoming tractor trailer, is a real gem). Too bad it all comes in the midst of something so lackluster. The film attempts to cash in on the recent “found footage” craze by having Tuck record everything that happens and ostensibly have us as viewers watch Tuck’s footage. Unfortunately the result is a shaky, headache-inducing picture that desperately needs stabilization. And there’s this: Everything we see is supposed to be recorded by the kids, yet we also see the world through Echo’s point of view. This is a convenience that violates the rules the film made for itself, and is therefore insulting to the audience.

The visual effects, including the rendering of Echo, are adequate but not spectacular, as are the performances from the four relatively inexperienced child actors. The screenplay by Henry Gayden has some twists but no grand surprises, and the movie could’ve used a few.

Earth to Echo (2) Directed by Dave Green • Starring Teo Halm, Brian Bradley, Reese Hartwig, Ella Wahlestadt • Rated PG • 91 mins • At Maya Cinemas, Century Cinemas Del Monte, Northridge Cinemas.