Lilo & Stitch
Disney's latest live-action remake gives us a story of friendship and family that would make Dominic Toretto proud. With a few notable exceptions, most in the final act of the film, the new Lilo & Stitch follows the events of the original faithfully starting with the exiled Experiment 626 (Chris Sanders) crashlanding on Earth. The early sequences involving the United Galactic Federation are all CGI, but to limit the amount of effects needed on Earth, outside of the alien "dog" whom Lilo (Maia Kealoha) adopts, we get Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) and Agent Wendy Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) holographically disguised as humans for the majority of the film.
As with most of these remakes, the results are mixed. 2017's Beauty and the Beast remains the bar which all others have thus far failed to meet. The best thing about the latest remake are Stitch (still voiced by Chris Sanders) and Maia Kealoha who is precocious enough to sell Lilo's behavior troubling, but understandable, behavior. However, while it's certainly enjoyable to see Stitch in his early destructive mode early on, the ability for other characters to accept him as Lilo's dog can't be as easily written off in a live-action film.
Sydney Agudong steps in as Lilo's older sister Nani who struggles to be a stand-in for their parents long before the furry alien menace arrives. Kaipo Dudoit is our new David and the film adds the character of Tutu (Amy Hill) as David's mother and neighbor and friend to Lilo and Nani who the script makes responsible for Lilo's adoption of Stitch (rather than Nani) and provides an important role in the film's alternative ending to the original. And Tia Carrere (who played Lilo's sister in the original) does get a return here as the family's initial social worker, as the script only works in Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) only after the CIA is aware of an alien landing.
Our new Lilo & Stitch is enjoyable enough for Disney recycling IP, although it does lack some of heart, magic, and zaniness of the original film (such as leaving Stitch's Elvis moments for the closing credits). Like most of these Disney films, it's a capable, albeit not impressive, remake. The one change that truly perplexed me was the removal of The Ugly Duckling bedtime story which was a crucial piece of Stitch growing to understand the concept of family (and a desire to find his own). Still, in the end, young viewers are likely to enjoy Lilo and Stitch each learning to be better together and helping to put a broken family back together again.
Watch the trailer- Title: Lilo & Stitch (2025)
- IMDb: link
