Earth To Echo opens with a strong character development scene. The viewer learns character background information without the revealing being contrived. The opening camera work is in the gimmicky home video style, but thankfully is used as a segue and used sparingly throughout the movie. The conflict for the characters is woven into the dialogue quickly, enabling an engrossing plot laced with action slowly paced that's digestible for children.
The alien character is adorably marketable. This highlights the main focus of Earth To Echo - marketing. The marketing goal sadly trumps a solid script, direction, acting, and camera work. From advertising on kids' television networks and along with it's PG rating, it's clear the target audience for Earth To Echo is the 7 to 13 age bracket. However, the movie contains some questionable scenes for this market. Scenes such as stealing a car, underage driving, and implied underage drinking are worrisome. Especially when the main actors who are on the cusp of the marketed age bracket (therefore relatable role models) are the ones performing most of the questionable acts. While harmless and driven by the plot, these scenes are unexpected and irresponsible for the targeted age bracket. Which is why it seems Earth To Echo is purely market driven. Children in the 7-13 age range have more influence on their parents in a consumer sense. This age range is more likely to still go to see movies of their choice with their parents and request products related to these movies. Earth To Echo a quality movie in all aspects from the opening scene to the ending credits with an strong but not sappy emphasis on the value of friendship is a fantastic movie for the 13 to 17 age bracket. The 7 to 13 age bracket, though seems to be better consumers.
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