Earth to Echo (2014), PG, 2 stars

The children uncovering something mysterious, and maybe, secretive.

We have seen good and bad imaginative science fiction films in the past decade, but rarely, we have seen one that involves children. The most recent one was the film, Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams, which was a good movie on its own, but it was an appreciative homage to Steven Spielberg's early sci-fi films like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But, every director tries to craft a film as efficient as both of those Spielberg-directed films and the E.T. film really set the standard between the children's communication and the alien's response and its communication. This is a film, unfortunately, that copies from E.T. and at times, Close Encounters. It is clichéd-riddled.

Tuck, Munch, and Alex are an inseparable trio of friends whose lives are in jeopardy as a construction crew forces his entire neighborhood to relocate and build a new freeway. All three mourn as all of their families are going to go their separate ways into different ends of the country. The movie is set as a recording as Tuck records the events on his camera and will upload it onto his YouTube channel.

During the last week of the neighborhood, each of those three guys discover unexpected electronic signals on their phones. At one point, the construction crew give out new phones and apologize for the electrical short that cause a few sparks in the system. Meanwhile, all three plan to tell their parents that they are going to sleep over and ride their bikes to find out what the image means, identical to the image in the desert.

All three ride their bikes out to the desert following directions on their phone and finds a metallic being that seems to communicate with them and each metallic object connects to the alien, making it stronger. It unfortunately leads them to a house, Emma's house, a girl Tuck has a crush on. She tells them that they will keep their secret and asks them to go with them. They deny her request and move on to the bar and she follows the three bystanders. They all plan to follow Echo to their destination. But, will the government find out about this?

Echo.

It is a predictable science fiction film because you can tell who will be the key players in this film and what they are doing relevant to the alien's journey. I am mixed on the idea of using a kid's camera to record the movie and its events. Basically, it is a good idea to use a kid's point of view on camera, but the problem is it feels like his camera is between him and the experience that audiences want to view. Otherwise, it cannot upload on YouTube. Imagine how many views that video will get. Haha.

The kids are actors who are just getting their first break and I did not think they were as memorable or driven as the children in E.T. or Super 8. They felt like they were naturally conversationalizing, arguing, and making jokes at each other like children during the summer. Here, it feels like the dialogue and the reactions were forced as the director wants them to play caricatures in a film. Also, I felt like the idea of the subplot of the break-up of the three friends was unnecessary. However, I did like the cute naturalness of the main character having a crush on the girl and not having the guts to talk to her or get a number. A lot of pre-teenage or teenage boys will feel that way in the beginning.

I have not said anything about the alien yet, except, I thought it was a cute robotic alien. It would have been an awful film if it were a monster, a creature, or a big robot. I liked the element of how the filmmakers want to create this cute metallic robot and have the kids help him. This is a PG-rated film. And, some of the production design is innovative and nicely done. However, this is a formulaic carbon copy of E.T. Kids will be entertained and delighted by this film, but I did not feel that was as authentic of an experience as I thought. It sort of felt of Google-Glass video of kids making a film about an alien.

Rent The Goonies, Stand by Me, E.T., Close Encounters or Super 8 instead. It is a bland and formulaic script about a robot trying to find its way back home. Try to figure out what happens in the end. It is not rocket science.

**