Review: ‘Earth to Echo’

In the grand tradition of movies about kids biting off more than they can chew a la “E.T.” or “The Goonies” or “The Sandlot,” here comes “Earth to Echo” a movie about some kids biting off more than they can chew, but this time in the form of a found footage movie. Oh how simple it is to update age old tropes to modern standards.

“Earth to Echo” starts with three kids who are friends but who find their friendship threatened by the spectre of Big Brother, as eminent domain forces them to move out of their neighborhood so a freeway can be built through the area. On their last night together, these three kids decide to investigate some random map zapped on to their cell phones, mostly in an effort to try to do something memorable with their last night together. And sure enough, when the map leads them to a cute tiny little alien, they find themselves on a mission to help this little alien guy find his spaceship so he can go home.

Sound familiar? It should, because it is a very basic set up, and nearly identical to “E.T.” when you boil it down, but still “Earth to Echo” does manage to be its own movie, do its own thing, what with the found footage approach and emphasis on the use of Google maps and smartphones and whatnot, because you know, it is 2014 and stuff. This movie hammers home over and over some platitudes about friendship and how strong some friendships are and what not, but that is kind of a crock of shit. These 13-year old kids are separating and when they do, their friendships are going to become memories, even in this age of Skype and face time and snap chat and whatever else is going on with the kids these days, so while for the three kids in this movie their friendship is most meaningful thing in their worlds, really we all know that these friendships are actually quite fickle, quick to fall apart, especially when distance is added to the equation.

But yet this does want us to feel something, especially when one of the kids goes on and on via voice over about how friends are important etc. etc. we get it, really we do. The problem is in this movie we really don’t see these friendships develop, we really are only privy to the very end of their friendship, and we really aren’t shown or even told WHY these three are friends to begin with, there is nothing special bonding them, they don’t have anything uniting them really, they are just three buds from various backgrounds.

And as a result, the impending demise of their friendship really doesn’t equate to much danger or much of a disaster, its just life, at least that’s what we adults know when we see something like this. Ideally the kids who watch this movie will be more affected by this story and its “message,” and really I can see this being a movie kids really like because it is not terribly made and even has a few good big cinematic moments here and there, and a handful of good jokes, and a damn cute little alien at the center of the whole thing, so it can be something good for the kiddos.

So “Earth to Echo” is kind of good, more like good enough, with a few fun ideas here and there and, again it must be said, one of the cutest, most precious and lovable little metal alien beings ever, so that definitely counts for something.