Lilo & Stitch Parent Guide

After losing their parents, young adult Nani (Sydney Agudong) is given guardianship over her little sister, Lilo (Maia Kealoha), who tends to march to the beat of her own drum. Even with regular visits from their social worker, Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere), Nani struggles to pay the bills and raise her sister, while Lilo can’t seem to make any friends. After a chance visit to an animal shelter, Lilo finds a potential friend in Stitch (Chris Sanders), a chaotic blue creature she thinks is a dog.

What Lilo doesn’t know is that Stitch is actually an alien experiment who crash landed on Earth. Pursued by his creator, Jumba (Zach Galifianakis), and a Federation scientist, Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), Stitch attaches himself to Lilo for protection, but as the two become closer he starts to wonder if he might have found a family.

The 2002 animated Lilo & Stitch is one of my favorite Disney films of all time. It’s charming, heartfelt, funny, and well written. What I don’t love are Disney’s live action remakes. They are (for the most part) soulless cash grabs with no artistic or creative merit whose sole purpose is to prove how little respect the company has for its audience. I avoid them whenever possible - the exceptions being when my lovely editor asks nicely. With these two strong opinions in mind, I had impossibly low expectations walking into the theater. I can admit that this film exceeded my expectations, but that’s really not saying much.

I cannot call this a bad movie by any stretch, but it’s not good either. The problem is that it has no reason to exist. This remake has nothing new to say, so all it can be is a cheap imitation of the original. There are some changes to the plot, especially in the third act, but none of those justify making this film in the first place. I spent the entire runtime wishing I was watching the original. By moving the story into live action mode, it loses all of its charm and magic. Stitch is far less endearing in 3D, so his chaos becomes annoying rather than lovable.

Most of the major changes to the story and characters result in an inferior product. A lot of the themes lose their impact because of the alterations to the third act, and many of the characters are flattened and simplified, making them forgettable or in some cases unlikeable. One of the most egregious problems for me was the digital animation. Stitch is fine, but Jumba looks terrible. His problems begin with the character’s basic design, but it’s obvious that the animators weren’t given enough time to fully realize the character, so he just looks low budget and kind of gross. Pleakley doesn’t look great either, but he gets a lot less screen time in his alien form so he’s less noticeable. Pleakley in human form is an absolute icon and by far the best part of the film.

There are far worse children’s movies, especially among the Disney live action remakes, but I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want to spend money on seeing a second rate version of a great film they either already own or can stream. Children will probably be more entertained by the animated version anyway, so don’t waste your time on this newest addition to the Cash Grab Hall of Fame.