Earth to Echo

Summer is coming to a close, and three close friends - Tuck, Munch, and Alex - are trying to make the most of their last days together. A new highway development bought the land that their neighborhood is in, so they are being forced to move out of their homes. As the three friends try to find things to keep their minds off of the inevitable move, they start to notice that their phones are doing weird things, such as show an image that looks like a map, as well as emit weird noises. Their search to find the source of the interference on their phones leads the kids to the desert, where they come across a tiny robotic alien that has crash landed and is in trouble. After attempting to communicate with the alien, Tuck, Munch, and Alex come to realize that the images on each of their phones is a map to parts of the alien's (whom they named Echo) spaceship. What follows is a race to find all the parts to the ship and get Echo safely off Earth before government officials who are also looking for the ship find it and stop Echo from ever leaving Earth.

Just from the trailers alone, I thought it was going to be a really cheesy kid's flick that looked like a rip off of both E.T. and Super 8. While it did have it's moments that were pretty cheesy, and one or two scenes were reminiscent of both E.T. and Super 8, I actually really enjoyed it. The trailers made it seem like it was geared towards younger kids, like around elementary school age; however, it was a bit more mature than that. By 'mature', I don't mean vulgar or bad (thankfully) - more like the tone and story seemed to be geared more towards middle school kids and older. It had a good, fun story, and the kids who played Tuck, Munch, and Alex respectively were pretty good in each of their roles. I also liked (for the most part) the cinematography of Earth to Echo - it was filmed 'amateur' style, much like the Paranormal Activity series, Cloverfield, etc., as if the audience was part of the action instead of just watching from a distance.

Unfortunately, that style also brought some problems along with it. It was cool to see it that way, but the 'shaky-cam' became quite a bit unsettling as the film carried on. Those who have problems with motion sickness might want to skip Earth to Echo, as it had a LOT of shaking throughout. There were times near the end where the camera was shaking so bad that it was near impossible to tell what was going on. Also, all the adults in Earth to Echo were portrayed as mindless people who don't actually pay attention to their kids. There's one scene in particular that's sadly played for laughs where Tuck calls out to his parents that he's on his way out to visit his friends, and his parents don't even acknowledge him throughout the whole conversation. Seeing that kind of made me mad, but also grateful that my own parents aren't like that. It made me appreciate them even more.

Still, those complaints I have against Earth to Echo weren't enough to make me hate the film. or think about not recommending it to moviegoers. I think if you can withstand a lot of 'shaky-cam' cinematography and not get motion sickness, then you should go see Earth to Echo. Especially parents who have young kids, I think they would enjoy it.

Earth to Echo makes its way into theaters for a wide release on July 2, 2014.