When they find out a freeway is going to be built through their quiet little town, Tuck, Munch and Alex know their lives are going to change. As they each get ready to move, they receive encrypted messages on their phones that lead them to an incredible discovery: a small extraterrestrial stuck on Earth. They decide to help it find its way home, even as the government starts to hunt them…

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Dave Green doesn’t shy away from blatant references – if not outright theft – for his debut: there’s definitely DNA from E.T., Goonies, Chronicle and Super 8 in this naïve summer flick that’s targeted toward children. Leave your expectations of narrative or cinematography at the door and fall into the big blue eyes of this mechanical owl from far away. “Earth to Echo” is an inoffensive adventure carried by young actors that aren’t always convincing, but it has special effects that do their stuff. What this dispensable retread leaves behind though, is an impulse to see the originals again.