Updating ’80s suburban science-fiction fantasy as found-footage storytelling for the smartphone generation, “Earth to Echo” feels like what it is — an attempt to pour old-school Spielbergian wine into newer bottles with shaky hands and a shakier camera; the process transfers more sediment than sentiment.
Still, parents looking for mostly harmless entertainment for their young teens and tweens will find it to be a brief, brisk diversion that gives them and their kids a chance to be in air conditioning and entertaining darkness for 82 minutes.
See video: ‘Earth to Echo’ Trailer Teases a Live-Action Family Film to Rival ‘E.T.’