Earth to Echo

This kids-help-an-alien adventure borrows wholesale from ET, Super 8, The Goonies and a dozen others, and while it isn't in the same league as its influences, it does make for fun viewing for young audiences. On the eve of eviction from their suburban homes, three boys find their mobile phones picking up mysterious interference. The messages lead them into the desert where they discover an otherworldly thingamajig that's literally the key to a hidden spaceship. But there is a sinister group of grown-ups after the alien gizmo, too. The special effects are decent, the pacing is fast and frantic, and it all makes use of the fashionable "found footage" approach. Aside from some heavy-handed philosophising about how distance doesn't dilute friendship, this is a superior junior sci-fi yarn.