'Lilo & Stitch' Review

Stick with the original.

The original 2002 Lilo & Stitch is one of Disney’s best- not only as a heartfelt story about found family, but also as a true achievement in animation. Directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois imbued every frame with lush color, carefully tended environments, and wonderfully expressive characters. This subtle care would appear again in Sanders’ 2024 Oscar-nominated film The Wild Robot. On the other hand, Disney’s live-action remake only serves to underscore just how precious creativity really is and what happens when it is replaced by reductionist imitation.

Alien experiment Stitch (a returning Chris Sanders) has escaped from the judgment of the United Galactic Federation’s council. His mad scientist creator Jumba (Zach Galifinakis) and council advisor Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) are dispatched to find him. Stitch crash lands on Earth and quickly finds himself in the reluctant care of Nani (Sydney Agudong) and her sister turned adoptive daughter Lilo (Maia Kealoha).

Discussing the adherence to the original of a remake like this feels futile. If it was a completely faithful remake, it fails to justify existing. If it tries to reinterpret, it runs the risk of missing what made the original so beloved. Unfortunately, the script by Chris Kekaniokelani Bright and Mike Van Waes falls into the latter category. Neither has much experience prior to this film.

There are a variety of narrative changes that largely baffle the mind. Some characters like Captain Gantu are entirely excised. Fine. Yet, there are several changes which seem to exist only to serve a constrained budget or avoid cultural landmines. Nani now wants to be a marine biologist, which has little impact on the story. Agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance), one of the original’s most memorable characters, had his role split into two and is essentially destroyed by it. He barely registers, a stunning change from the animated version’s comically big presence. The only reason for this seems to be that Disney was worried portraying a social worker as a CIA agent-type would be offensive.

Jokes are also regularly “modernized”. Lilo saying “I read her diary” when revealing Nani’s romantic interest to David (Kaipo Dudoit) has been changed to “I read her text messages”. Gags about Nani’s seeming abuse or neglect of Lilo have been toned down.

The worst change, though, has to come in the end. The writers choose to shift the film’s message about found family to that of a socialized view of childcare. On its own, it is not necessarily bad, but it feels questionable as an equivocation for a traditional family unit, even a makeshift one.

But alas, even if it was completely faithful, Lilo & Stitch simply has no reason to exist. It is aesthetically dull, greying out the beautiful Hawaii of the original. The aliens besides Stitch, when they appear briefly, look straight out of a fake YouTube trailer cover image. Jumba and Pleakley are in human form for most of the film. Luckily, Billy Magnussen absolutely slam dunks his role even if Galifinakis is sleepwalking. Nevertheless, the remake constantly reminds the viewer of its inferiority.

There are a couple redeeming qualities to the film, though not enough to justify spending money to see it. Agudong and Kealoha are fantastic and carry the story’s emotional core. Director Dean Fleischer-Camp, best known for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, does deliver on the feels. Those susceptible may find themselves tearing up.

Pope St. John Paul II wrote in his 1999 letter to artists that “every genuine art form in its own way is a path to the inmost reality of man and of the world.” Lilo & Stitch (2025) then is pseudo-art. The only reality it points to is a hollowing out of creativity and cultural tradition for the sake of a quick buck. It is the image of disenchantment.

Lilo & Stitch is now playing in theaters. I saw it in 3D and there was little usage of the format.