Film Review: Echo 8 (2024) - Australia
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 5/10
Rating: ★ ★ ½
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A Micro-Budget Marvel... and Its Unavoidable Growing Pains - Let us first tip our hat to the sheer, stubborn audacity of it. "Echo 8," a feature-length Australian action-thriller directed, co-written, and headlined by the indefatigable Maria Tran alongside Takashi Hara, was reportedly wrestled onto the screen for an ultra shoestring budget. In an era where studio tentpoles hemorrhage millions on craft services alone, this fact alone demands respect. It’s a testament to resourcefulness, passion, and the kind of DIY spirit that keeps the cinematic bloodstream flowing outside the major arteries. As a landmark for Asian-Australian representation within the action genre, it also carries significant cultural weight. The pity, then, is that while "Echo 8" frequently impresses with its scrappy determination, its technical limitations and narrative thinness ultimately prevent it from being more than a fascinating curio.
The film's heart, and its clearest triumph, beats within its action sequences. Tran, who also choreographed the fights, brings a palpable physicality and gritty sophistication to her role as the titular assassin, Echo 8. The fights possess a raw energy and practicality that feels earned, not manufactured by a legion of VFX artists. They punch, quite literally, far above the film's minuscule weight class. In one particular nighttime nightclub sequence, the cinematography even manages a slick, professional sheen that momentarily makes you forget the shoestring origins. Tran herself delivers a stoic, capable performance; you believe her as a lethal weapon navigating a shadowy world. Equally grounding is Gabrielle Chan as Hanh, a grieving mother. Chan provides the essential emotional ballast the film desperately needs, lending genuine pathos to an otherwise familiar plot involving an assassin regaining lost memories. Her presence reminds us that stakes exist beyond the next punch-up.
Alas, the film's reach too often exceeds its budgetary grasp, and these stumbles are impossible to ignore. The most persistently jarring flaw is the sound design. Dialogue frequently battles for audibility against sound effects mixed with the subtlety of a jackhammer. Characters whisper crucial lines only to have a door slam or a punch connect with deafening volume, pulling the viewer rudely out of the moment. While Tran and Chan hold the center, several supporting performances falter, described aptly elsewhere as "wooden" or "phonetic." There’s a sense sometimes that actors inhabit entirely different films, lacking the cohesion even a micro-budget ensemble should strive for. Mike Leeder is wasted in a TV set as his true menace is far more than that.
The script, frankly, offers little new. The amnesiac assassin trope is well-worn, and "Echo 8" doesn’t find fresh angles or compelling depth within it. The pacing sags, the narrative feels simplistic, and you sense the filmmakers straining against the confines of a plot that needed either more originality or more resources to transcend its clichés. Finally, those budget constraints manifest in painfully visible ways: a character reacts to a taser with comically exaggerated "spasmodic jerking" utterly divorced from reality, and prop weapons lack even a shred of convincing heft. These moments aren't charmingly rough-hewn; they’re immersion-breaking.
So, where does that leave us? “Echo 8" is undeniably a valiant effort. It’s an inspiring case study in what sheer willpower and martial arts prowess can achieve with almost nothing. For aspiring filmmakers, indie action fans, or those keen on Australian martial arts cinema and Asian-Australian representation, it holds genuine interest as a proof-of-concept and a labor of love. Maria Tran proves herself a formidable multi-hyphenate talent to watch. But as a piece of pure entertainment, as a terrific film? The rough edges are simply too pronounced, the technical hiccups too frequent, and the story too derivative for it to fully succeed. It’s a film I admired more than I enjoyed, a testament to spirit rather than a triumph of seamless execution. For the mainstream thriller audience seeking polish and narrative satisfaction, "Echo 8" might echo a bit too hollowly. (Neo, 2026)
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