Lilo and Stitch is emphatically inferior to Disney’s classic predecessor; drab visuals, lesser performances, and nearly entirely redundant. And yet, thanks to its titular, mischievous mascot, it works so much that you forget all of its flaws.
In 2010, Alice in Wonderland – an interminable, bombastic blur – made over $1 billion, a harbinger of despair for Disney’s rollout of do-overs. They keep making them for the same reason that dealers will always sell drugs: people keep handing over their money.
And yet, when they don’t feel like glorified tech demos designed to print cash, they justify themselves; Pete’s Dragon stands completely apart from the original and is a much better film, Cinderella is stunning, and Cruella is a punky, amusingly nasty spin on the 101 Dalmatians heiress. The rest border on depressing, playing (and preying) on the studio’s beloved history.
Lilo and Stitch is somewhere in the middle: a remake that will make you smile so much that you almost forget how needless it is… almost.
What is Lilo and Stitch about?
Lilo (Maia Kealoha), a young, trouble-making orphan in Hawaii, struggles to make friends; they think she’s weird, and her parents say she’s a “bad kid.” Meanwhile, her older sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) tries to make ends meet and fend off the concerns of a social worker (Tia Carrere).
One night, Lilo “wishes upon a star for a best friend” – and her wish is granted, with a catch: she encounters Experiment 626, a feisty, blue alien that destroys everything with gleeful abandon.
They find kinship in chaos, to the point he earns the name Stitch, but there are two problems: firstly, he’s strictly the property of the United Galactic Federation, which sends Dr Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) and Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) to retrieve him; and two, his crash-landing on Earth attracts the attention of Cobra Bubbles, a no-nonsense federal agent.
Lilo and Stitch is different… but the same
You may have noticed one absence: Captain Gantu, arguably the main villain of the original film. He’s completely cut from the remake, with the script (penned by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes) focusing more on Jumba and Pleakley’s efforts to catch Stitch and slightly retooling Cobra’s role and how his involvement unfolds.
That seems like a big change, and it is… on paper. The remake juggles its characters and pitches its pacing so well that you probably won’t notice Gantu is missing – plus, for the most part, the story remains intact (with an added, sweet mid-credits scene you should stick around for).
But here’s the thing: the original movie isn’t just great, it’s magical, a genuine masterpiece of Disney’s post-millennium library. A live-action remake with this little verve was never going to top it, so it doesn’t try – it plays the hits (and us, the viewers, like steel guitars and drums), and that includes a couple of Elvis tracks.
For example, the ‘Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride’ scene left tears in my eyes (every memory of watching Lilo and Stitch rushed back, and it belongs in the highest echelon of Disney songs) – but is that nostalgia, or did the film actually earn that response? It’s definitely the former, as the remake’s version is fundamentally worse (the updated inclusion of the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus is a nice touch). But did I care enough in the moment to recognize the difference? No. I sat back, bobbed my head, and let myself well up.
You will fall in love with Stitch again
After the remake, Stitch should be added to Disney’s Mount Rushmore. To borrow Elvis’ words, you can’t help falling in love with him – a gnashing, smashing, fuzzy extraterrestrial mongrel that makes the whole thing feel worthwhile.
The VFX team has done an extraordinary job, and credit to director Dean Fleischer Camp; if you’ve watched Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, you’ll know he was the right choice to bring him into the real world in a way that feels tangible and every bit as sweet and lovable.
Whenever Stitch isn’t on screen, the movie’s mileage varies. Agudong and Kealoha are a likable pairing, and Magnussen delivers hilarious physical comedy, but it’d be disingenuous to say anyone in the cast is especially memorable; they’re all exactly what the film needs them to be – fine, with the capacity for good.
The way it looks is hard to forgive, considering its source material used watercolor-painted backgrounds to give it that dreamy, one-of-a-kind warmth. It’s one of the most beautiful Disney movies ever, and its remake is shot with the flair of an advert for a budget package holiday company and uninspiringly lit. You’d never know that it’s meant to take place in paradise.
Lilo and Stitch review score: 3/5 – Good
Lilo and Stitch is easily one of Disney’s most (if not the most) enjoyable live-action remakes. It isn’t as enchanting as the original, but once you look past its weakness and coast with its motion, it’s hard to resist.
In the moment, as Stitch wreaks cackling havoc, there’s no place you’d rather be; lingering, laughing, and tearing up in the ocean blue.
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