Review of Earth to Echo (2014) by Jason M — 08 Jul 2014

Earth To Echo July 2.

Initial Reaction: Echo, do you read me?

Main Characters.

Alex, Tuch, Munch And Emma: Four kids out on an adventure played by Teo Halm, Astro, Reese C Hartwig and Ella Linnea Wahieste.

Plot Summary.

It's the last few days that these kids are going to spend together before one of them moves out. As they ponder what to do about it they receive a message on the phones - one that they decode as a map.

The three boys then decide that they should spend the last night together investigating this map. They lie to their parents (who don't check up on them) and head on out.

The map leads the kids over to a smoldering wreck. Inside it they find a strange little robot creature - one that asks them for help getting it back together. It's not long before the girl forces her way onto the search.

In order to do that, they have to go to several other nearby places while avoiding a secret agency.

SCORING.

Main Characters.

These four kids are okay - I like that they act a lot like regular kids who panic when strange things happen and come up with half baked plans to solve their problems.

And the robot is really cute and lovable. SCORE: 8.

Supporting Cast.

The adults on the other hand - not so good. I felt like they just put a bunch of cardboard cutouts for the adults (the parents and the men working for the secret agency). SCORE: 3.

Plot.

I liked the journey these kids take for most of the film, going place to place and finding piece after piece. But there's parts of the film that are really hard to swallow. Why are these kids the only ones to get the message? How does the secret agency know about the alien creature and it's ship? And how long has the robot been here? SCORE: 5.

Originality.

This film tries to make a kid friendly version of the found footage genre, and I say it pulls it off very nicely. SCORE: 7.

Violence Factor.

The kids get caught, but they aren't badly treated by the secret agency. But there's quite the destruction when pieces of the alien creature are found (and when they find the alien creature's ship). I'd like to see who gets to clean up that mess. SCORE: 7.

Other Moral Issues.

This film is about hour four kids get together to solve a big problem. But the thing I wonder is why there's only one girl - and she has to be the "girlfriend" to one of the boys. SCORE: 7.

Final Score (out of 60): 37 % Score: 61.67%.

These kids and the alien creature are great, but the story is ridiculous and the adults need to have more personality in them.