EARTH TO ECHO (Theatrical Release USA 2014)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.5|5.0 Stars ìììì

Earth to Echo had a $13,000,000 budget. It is difficult to see where that money was invested as the film appears to have been made on a shoestring budget. It uses relatively new and mostly unknown actors and home-video-type filming technique to tell its story. But, somehow the home-style video camera effect works as it creates realism for this sci-fi story. The script is loose, appealing to a young ‘Hardy Boys’-type crowd as the three boys have little parental supervision. The special effects of the alien repairing itself is very well done as is the repair of the space ship. It’s unsettling, but innovative, to see such terrific special effects for these scenes paired with home video-type imagery.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

A severely injured alien marooned on Planet Earth coupled with a government closure of a nice suburban neighborhood begin the story. Three neighborhood boys—Alex (Teo Halm), Tuck (Astro), and Munch (Reese Hartwig)—discover glitches in their cellular phones, follow the source of the glitches, find the alien, trace all of its missing parts so it can self-repair itself, return it to its spaceship, and return the alien home. 

Additional Thanks

Great work for Director Dave Green. Thank you to Executive Producers Jason Beckman, Robbie Brenner, Jason Colodne, Mark Benton Johnson, David Miller, Tucker Tooley, and Jack Kavanaugh for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Emma (Ella Wahlestedt), Dr. Lawrence Madsen (Jason Gray-Stanford), Marcus Simms (Algee Smith), Calvin Simms (Cassius M. Willis), and Theresa Simms (Sonya Leslie).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. These three boys are smarter than the average kid on the block, appear to have little parental supervision, have enough chutzpah to drive vehicles without valid driver’s licenses, take nighttime ventures without parental supervision, and stay up all day and all night without adults noticing severe breaks in schedule. This is definitely appealing to the pre-teen and young teen audience. It's a good family watch.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers