Yeah, “Echo” is right. You can repeat that again … and they did. Tell me, do you ever feel sorry for a film? Earth to Echo is such a blatant rip-off of E.T., it feels like a six-year-old blood doping in T-ball.
How ’bout you be the judge? Earth to Echo is about a small group of verge-of-puberty dirt bike kids who happen upon a friendly alien trying to get home. The alien is stranded and the kids have to help him leave before the evil government finds out.
Is this what it takes to write a movie these days? Well, gee, fellas, I got a plot for you — there’s this grizzled adventuring archaeologist trying to keep ancient mystical treasures out of the hands of the Nazis. No? Ok, how about the story of a kid farmer who dreams of becoming a space ship pilot and gets involved in some wars among the stars. Wait. Wait. I got a real gem — a huge shark attacks a local beach resort, this thing has jaws the size of a barcalounger and the sheriff and a few eccentrics have to get rid of it. Embarrassing.
Alex (Teo Halm), Munch (Reese Hatwig) and Tuck (Astro. Really? Your name is ‘Astro?’ What are you, a Brazilian soccer star? Five appearances on “X Factor” and suddenly you’re a fragrance. Enjoy your 15 minutes ‘cause Echo clearly isn’t the game breaker.) are all being uprooted because of a new freeway. The freeway developers turn out to be the G-Men in search of E.T. which makes me wonder about the plot — if the construction crew isn’t really a construction crew, does that mean the government invented it just to isolate the alien? Why go to such trouble? Anyhoo, the teen boys 
interpret strange cell phone chaos to mean, “go search in the desert for something.” And on their last night in E.T.ville together, they ride their BMX Huffy Crusaders twenty miles out in the desert only to find a tin can.
Turns out the tin can is alive, and shedding its protective outer wear reveals something that’s part Simon game and part Bubo. And it understands English, isn’t that nice? It accepts Echo as a name and for the rest of the night, Echo leads the kids to places where it can steal shit to help rebuild the spaceship. Every scene is exactly the same — Echo shows a map of a place the kids shouldn’t go — bar, pawn shop, private residence, etc. The kids show reluctance but eventually realize the plot can’t advance without complicity and enter the establishment where Bubo levitates the place into a sty. Then there’s some petty larceny and the kids run away.
Thankfully short at 89 minutes, Earth to Echo sure wasn’t shy about introducing the themes of friendship and first love, just shy about following through on them. I guess that part of the E.T. screenplay got damaged. Next time, just go find the Spielberg classic; it’s the same film, only much better.
This film is just like E.T.
(E.T. E.T. E.T. E.T.)
Can’t believe it’s not free
(Not free Not free Not free Not free)
Whatever’s new I can’t see
(Can’t see Can’t see Can’t see Can’t see)
Should we leave? Definitely
(-itely –itely –itely –itely)
Rated PG, 89 Minutes
D: Dave Green
W: Henry Gayden (what, no credit for Steven Spielberg or Melissa Mathison?)
Genre: Stranded alien, borrowed plot
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: The kind of kid who prefers Star Wars episodes I-III
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Steven Spielberg
