Echo 3

Echo 3 is a solid military/political thriller that is absolutely worth watching. It stars Luke Evans, Jessica Ann Collins and Michael Huisman. The story is about a women named Amber (Collins) who goes missing after being abducted around the Columbia-Venezuela border during a political war. Her brother (Evans) and husband (Huisman) are two special ops soldiers who take it upon themselves to go find her and bring her back home. In doing so they have to overcome one crisis after another. The series is beautiful shot and the production value is as good as anything you'll see on a tv show. This is a political war drama that will keep you entertained throughout the series.

They really tried making something good here The actors are good, story is half decent, but it could have been told much better. It's slow paced so the thrill is taken out of it, everything just feels like a drag, like you'd enjoy it better if you play the episodes at x2 speed. Every episode feels like it could be 20 minutes shorter because of how long some sequences and scenes are. I don't know if they're trying to build tension or suspense but it just ends up being dull. I'd say the concept is similar to terminal list, except more politics and it's a rescue mission not a revenge one. A military political thriller. It's just missing that edge of the seat feel. It sucks because the actors are doing a pretty good job, and this series could've been good but it has me literally begging for something, anything; it's like poking a sedated bear or going to the zoo and seeing a lion sleeping, it's capable of great action and awe but it's just lying there instead, like what a waste. Looking at the way the story is progressing, 5 episodes in, it's clearly building layers and getting interesting but the narration is so slow. There are scenes over a minute long were nothing substantial happens. Not every thriller needs shootouts or the like, but have some suspense and tension maybe. Just do something. Please.

First the positives - it looks great, it's shot beautifully. Evans (especially) and Huisman are excellent. The big action set pieces are terrifically staged, tense and compelling.

The negatives - the character of Amber is fundamentally unsympathetic and basically irritating from the start, which is a problem when the whole point of the show is that these people love her so much to go to war to get her back.

Also there is no need for 10 episodes- this feels like - a 4-6 part series stretches out to 10.

Fundamentally flawed but just about worth it for the action set pieces and Luke Evans was a standout throughout.

I don't write a lot of reviews, but I felt this one needed one. I finished the series... even after wanting to give up halfway through. Some scenes have incredible dialogue, and the story makes sense and seems halfway believable... then all of a sudden it's like a child wrote the dialogue and the story completely falls off track. I don't think I've ever been so confused at how incredible some episodes are and the acting is fantastic... then the next episode makes no sense and the acting goes down the drain with it. It's almost like the actors know it's childish so they just play along.

The action scenes are amazing. The acting has its ups and downs that flow with the writing. The soundtrack is debatably awful. I have to give it a straight 6 cause the great is just barely outweighing the cringe. Watch it if you're bored, I guess.

Everything feels like a retread of something previously done several times over--a woman gets taken in a foreign country, family struggles to get support from official channels, takes things into their own hands, using their "special" skills and resources. And it's Colombia/South America, so there are rebels, civil unrest, and social commentary involved. Throw in the CIA, military, and special forces, you basically have Echo 3 and every other story like it.

The story starts in Afghanistan, though I'm not sure there's that much relevance there, other than to establish that the leading male characters are members of Delta Force. An incident happens that is meant to create some tension between the characters, but if that's all there is, the audience could have just taken that as a given backstory of their past through a few lines of dialog and flashbacks if needed, without wasting screen time.

Nevertheless, once the story gets going, it begins to take shape, as the situation and circumstances start to spiral and escalate. It is from here that, despite the tired themes, it manages to become entertaining. Is it believable? It struggles to be, but once fully engaged, you'll suspend that disbelief and go along. It helps that Luke Evans is a good actor, and the most likable one in the cast. There are enough action sequences and adventure and production quality to make it worth watching it through to the end of Part One (first three episodes) and look forward to the next installment.