Runtime: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Rating: PG
Director: Dave Green
Quick Impressions:
Originally, we’d planned to skip Earth to Echo because we were supposed to be driving to California this weekend. My husband and I celebrate our seventh anniversary Monday, the day we were supposed to arrive in Disneyland. But then his wisdom teeth got painfully infected, so we decided to postpone the vacation until after he’s had them out.
So we were able to see Earth to Echo, after all. Secretly I was pleased since it looked like something my daughter would definitely enjoy. (She wasn’t crazy about Transformers. In fact, I’m expecting my husband to enjoy his dental extraction more.)
Ordinarily both my husband and I enjoy kids’ adventure movies (stuff like Goonies, E.T., even Super 8). And my stepson is about to start middle school, so he’s the perfect age to relate to the protagonists in Earth to Echo.
As it turns out, all four of us liked the movie. I know found-footage-style presentation is wildly divisive, but in this case, I think it serves the story well by giving kids a sense of immediacy, like they’re along on the adventure themselves.
Does this look like something kids made themselves with a camcorder? No. Does it look like something kids imagine they could make themselves with a camcorder? Yes.
Basically Earth to Echo is a movie in the spirit of 80s classics (of my own childhood) like E.T. and The Goonies, sort of like Super 8 was a couple of years ago. The big difference is, Earth to Echo is actually for children, unlike Super 8 which was clearly aimed at adults nostalgic about the children’s adventure movies of their childhood.
Adults without children might be intellectually bored or underwhelmed, but children of all ages should like this movie. Our eleven-year-old could definitely relate to the humor, and our five-year-old was engaged (on the edge of her seat, in fact) for its entire runtime.
The Good:
The cinematography in Earth to Echo is actually quite inventive. Unlike a lot of (very vocal) people, I usually enjoy found-footage movies, but I think this film uses that visual style better than most. We constantly get novel camera angles, and even though we’re given the idea that the footage being recorded is haphazard (because the viewing angle is askew) actually we get a really good, clear look at everything important on the screen. In real life, kids making a video would not do such a phenomenal job of keeping all relevant elements in the frame. So we get the illusion that everything’s happening so fast to real kids and we’re right in the moment with them, but then we also get camera work that is deceptively controlled and meticulous—the best of both worlds! The shaky cam becomes a storytelling device (something that seems to increase the immediacy and enhance the realism), but at the same time, no actual visuals are sacrificed. We may be looking at important stuff diagonally from below, but we’re still seeing it (and more often than not, our eye is actually directed toward it because of the way the shot is set).
Most kids today are incredibly comfortable with technology. Even if they don’t use it expertly, they think they do because they’re comfortable with it. So from a narrative point of view, it’s just logical to feature kids using smart phones and camcorders and other high-tech toys. Without the presence of such gadgets, the movie wouldn’t be realistic. Kids have access to this stuff. And any kid with access to such technology would definitely use it on such an adventure. So if they’re going to be recording everything they do, we might as well be watching the footage.
In fact the premise of this movie is so tantalizing to children because it gives them stuff they’re familiar with and makes it ten thousand times more exciting. A lot of kids probably watch and think, I have a phone with a camera. I could use it to record my own adventures. And I just know something awesome will happen to me just like this.
Even Echo himself seems custom fitted to this generation of children. He’s broken, but he knows how to fix himself and has the power to do so. All they have to do is follow his instructions carefully and follow him around having adventures. It’s like the video games kids play now. They’re all very directed and bossy, micromanaging every step of game-play by giving you a new goal every ten seconds and showing you which buttons to press on the controller as you play.
So I have to think this movie will really resonate with children. It may actually be the only movie I’ve seen this summer which is directed entirely at a young audience. (Even animated stuff like How to Train Your Dragon 2 has a lot of adult fans and a number of sophisticated plot elements.) But this really is a sweet little movie for children. Now thematically it borrows heavily from every other kids-on-a-quest movie ever made. In fact, the token female adventurer is so similar to the girl played by Elle Fanning in Super 8 that my stepson insisted it was the same person. (I don’t think it’s that Elle Fanning and Ella Wahlestedt are so similar. I think it’s actually their characters who are in some ways indistinguishable, particularly when it comes to interaction style.)
But although the movie doesn’t deliver anything earth-shakingly new, it does dip into themes that will seem profound to the kids watching. Originality is not its strong point, but it excels in execution. It’s particularly engaging because the found-footage style gives the action a sense of pressing (and inclusive) immediacy. Why the kids are doing any of this stuff hardly matters because we feel like we’re doing it along with them. The best childhood adventures are a bit confusing and ill-conceived while they’re happening. The nostalgic philosophizing about “that magical summer” or whatever always comes later. Earth to Echo throws us right into the thick of things and makes us perfectly happy to be there.
Best Scene:
My husband and my daughter say that they loved the part “when the kids first ride away on their bikes.” And my stepson just told me that he loved “the part with the bomb,” my favorite moment as well.
Really both of these moments belong to the same sequence, the time when the boys put their plan into action, ride away from home, and first discover their mysterious new “treasure” in the desert.
The young actors are all talented and charismatic, and their interactions feel very real (and often endearing). Astro (who must be more famous than I know with a name like Astro) does a great job providing authentic narration. Because he’s the narrator, his reactions and emotions are more immediately accessible to us, and we empathize with him pretty easily. The conspicuously handsome Alex (Teo Halm) gradually takes over the role of protagonist as the story goes on, but in this early sequence, Astro, Halm, and Reese Hartwig as Munch all get an equal share of the spotlight.
Their banter and arguments as they inexpertly begin their quest, and then their hilarious reactions to “the bomb” are probably the best part of the whole movie.
Best Action Sequence:
Maybe it’s just because I’m a girl, but I think the movie gets more exciting when the girl shows up. The bit in the bar and the close-call in the arcade are both very exciting, largely because she’s there.
Probably the best action sequence comes when Alex and Tuck fight about Tuck’s “betrayal,” though, because that’s action that the kids do control. The conflict arises because of their actions and reactions and issues, and they have total agency in this scenario. I also like Munch’s spectacular and surprising burst of ill-advised bravery. (The bit with the truck.)
Best Scene Visually:
The final scene featuring the culmination of Echo’s efforts is spectacularly well done. It made me think immediately of the ending of Super 8 when something similar happens. But that ending felt tacked on and schmaltzy, whereas this one made sense and looked really cool.
We’re given a pretty effective visual metaphor, too. Sometimes things seem impossible, but with a little faith (or trust, if you prefer) everything can come together in a way we never expected to create a better result than we (with our limited vision) could foresee.
The Negatives:
There’s something a little bit paint-by-numbers about this movie. There’s the cool, misunderstood, wrong-side-of-the-tracks, unwittingly handsome Alex, and his friends the wise narrator and the dorky, weird kid. Then the girl shows up. She’s mysterious, and everything she does is whimsical and crafty because deceit is effortless for her (as it is for all females), and she’s also much better at communicating with everyone.
That kind of formula may annoy you, but if it does, you’re probably not a kid, and children are definitely this movie’s target audience. My husband and I enjoyed it. We even found parts of it extremely emotionally resonant. As a kid who moved basically every year whether I liked it or not, I can definitely relate to the frustration and sense of powerlessness the kids feel when they contemplate being forced to move. And though not everybody can identify with being a foster kid, surely Alex is not the only one out there with a fear of being rejected, abandoned, or outgrown.
What bothered my daughter about the movie was the protagonists’ failure to take along snacks, “at least one toy,” and an air mattress on such a long journey. She was particularly hung up on the omission of the air mattress. She chattered about it on-and-off during the entire film.
“Look how tired they are! If only they had listened to me and brought along that air mattress! They could be resting right now!”
She loved the movie, though. Near the end, she said to me, “Mom, can I do this when I’m bigger? Maybe when I’m eight, I could go just with my friends and have a nice investigate. Of course, when I’m in charge of planning it, I’m going to take an air mattress.” No kidding?
Overall:
Earth to Echo is definitely a movie for children. The plot is very simple. The action is easy to follow. The characters do have complexity, but the narrator is still young at the end of the story, so we don’t get any adult reflection on the meaning of the events. This is a movie about kids, and kids are the ones who will enjoy it most. Unlike a lot of movies aimed specifically at children, however, Earth to Echo is well made and enjoyable. It’s maybe not the most original movie out there, but it’s a reasonably well made, well-acted, high-quality film that your children will enjoy. There are definitely worse choices out there right now for families.