Lilo & Stitch (2025)
A fugitive alien causes all kinds of havoc, yet has a healing effect on a broken family when he's adopted by a lonely Hawaiian girl in "Lilo & Stitch."
Laura's Review: B
Disney's latest live action remake is a nice bounce back after the fate of their last release. This one is sure to please families looking for early summer entertainment, although it may not move the needle much with those who find these remakes unnecessary. Writers Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and "Dear David's" Mike Van Waes haven't changed much from the original 2002 animation, which is still the better rendition of this charming tale, but director Dean Fleischer Camp ("Marcel the Shell with Shoes On") ensures his real life counterparts engage with humor and heart while incorporating the amusingly rendered alien entities into the action with impressive technical skill. One of the production's nicest touches is how many members of the original cast they've brought back, including Chris Sanders, the original voice of Stitch (and 2002's writer/director as well).
While Lilo (Maia Kealoha) and Stitch's introductions are the same, Lilo getting thrown out of her hula class after arriving late because of feeding a fish a sandwich, then reacting to bullying by shoving a classmate, Stitch, aka Experiment 626, being condemned as an illegal genetic mutation by Planet Turo Grand Councilwoman (voice of Hannah Waddingham, TV's 'Krapopolis'), then escaping, their meeting is changed every so slightly. The 'star' Lilo's wishes upon for a friend is actually Experiment 626's spaceship streaking across the sky and rather than her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) bringing her to a Kauaʻi animal rescue center to adopt a pet, she strongly objects when Lilo brings Stitch home after an outing with neighbor Tutu (Amy Hill, 2002's Mrs. Hasagawa).
Nani, a teenager trying to care for her much younger sister after the deaths of their parents, is overburdened, and social worker Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere, voice of 2002's Nani) has given her a week to clean up the house, get bills paid and apply for medical insurance, but the chaos introduced by Lilo's new pet upends their household and not only costs her her job (her boss is played by Jason Scott Lee, who voiced Nani's love interest in the original), but subsequent attempts to get one. But it's Stitch who brings an ad for a surf instructor to her attention, a dream job that she does get, but as she surfs with her sister, Stitch and admirer David Kawena (Kaipo Dudoit), Lilo has an accident that demands a trip to the emergency room and, of course, Nani hasn't procured that insurance yet. Stitch, who has been learning the meaning of love and 'ohana, the Hawaiian word for family, from Lilo, realizes he is now going to be the cause of his new family's break-up. And then there are Experiment 626's creator, Jumba (Zach Galifianakis), and Turo's resident Earth expert Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) who've been dispatched by the Grand Councilwoman to retrieve the creature as well as CIA Agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance), masquerading as Mrs. Kekoa's director, who is also hot on his trail.
Newcomer Kealoha is endearing as the oddball who worries that she's 'bad' (just as her new pet will) as well as impressively adept acting with an effect. Agudong balances both the overwhelming responsibilities she faces with patience and love for her sister, and, eventually, Stitch too. Amy Hill provides some comedic relief as their no-nonsense supportive neighbor. But it's Billy Magnusen as Pleakley's human incarnation who provides the most laughs of the live cast, whether's he's adapting to his new form or geeking out over all things Earth. Galifianakis seems oddly cast in what is essentially the villain role and Dudoit is appealing but not given much to do. Stitch, rendered here like the stuffed animal version of himself, is, of course, the main draw and Sanders hasn't lost his touch vocalizing the odd mash-up of alien-speak and English some twenty-odd years later.
But while the live action "Lilo & Stitch" is fun, it's lost some of the unconventional quirk of its predecessor, beginning with the casting of the more conventionally attractive Kealoha and Agudong. Stitch's gags, from his use as a stereo speaker to his Godzilla impersonation, don't tickle the imagination quite the same way this time around. Those unfamiliar with the animation will love this movie, though, and if it inspires a look at the old hand drawn version, that can only be a good thing.
Disney releases "Lilo & Stitch" in theaters on 5/23/25.
