Earth to Echo

Being in the midst of the summer movie season, it's always nice, if not outright imperative to have a certain degree of family oriented movie fare so the kids, who are out of school, will have something to delve into without the parents worrying about what's flashing on that screen in front of their impressionable kids. This is why films like "Earth to Echo" work so well given the season it is in.

Alex (Teo Halm), Tuck (Brian 'Astro' Bradley) and Munch (Reese Hartwig) are a trio of inseparable friends whose lives are about to change. Their neighborhood is being destroyed to make way for a huge highway project that is forcing their families to move away. But just two days before they must part ways, the boys begin receiving a strange series of encrypted signals on their phones. Convinced something bigger is going on, they team up with another school friend, Emma (Ella Wahlestedt), and set out to look for the source of their phone signals. What they discover is something beyond their wildest imaginations: a small alien who has become stranded on Earth. In need of their help, the four friends come together to protect the alien, which they call 'Echo", and help him find his way home. This journey, full of wonder, and adventure, is their story and their secret.

Others to round out the cast are Jason Gray-Stanford as Dr. Lawrence Madsen, Alga Smith as Marcus Simms, Cassius Willis as Calvin Simms, Sonya Leslie as Theresa Simms, Kerry O'Malley as Janice Douglas, Virginia Louise Smith as Betty Barrett, Peter McKenzie as James Hastings, Valerie Wildman as Christine Hastings, and Mary Pat Gleason as Dusty.

This was directed by virtual newcomer to theatrical features, Dave Green (Shorts and TV). He should go places, because the comraderie between these three buddies came across so real and normal and their astonishment of the finding they found in Echo was carried out so effectively that this was clearly talented directing. It was written by Henry Gayden based on a story by Gayden and Andrew Panay. This is where the confusion comes in, because this screenplay was loosely based on a story by these guys, but it was really based on the motion picture, "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial" '82. To give these guys credit, this might have been a homage to that film, but this was certainly not original. Com'on, the similarities are aplenty: both films contain three young kids that live in a suburban housing tract, both sets of kids find a friendly alien who has lost their way and need theses kids' help to get back home, both sets of kids protect the aliens from a government 'cover up', both sets of parents are basically clueless of what's going on, and lastly both aliens make it back to their respective homes only to leave the one's that helped them shedding a tear or two. Oh, come now, you know this alien makes it--it's a family film, it's just how does he do it is what makes this a fun ride. Hey, you be the judge.

The real difference here is the visual effects. In this film, they are much better than in E.T., but look how many years apart we are talking about. Suffice it to say, even though you know this is merely a remake of E.T. just from watching the trailer, it will still pull your emotional heart string enough for you to enjoy 'E.T.' all over again.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                            Rated: PG                            91mins.