Of all the remakes that have come out in recent years, Lilo & Stitch is not one that I was ever expecting. There are so many things that happened in the animated film that seemed to be a very difficult task for a remake to capture. Regardless, my friends and I were rather excited when we saw the trailers for this remake, and we decided to take a chance on it. Does it quite meet the expectations that we all had, or were our rose colored childhood glasses about to crack? Let’s dive in and find out.

For those who don’t know, Lilo & Stitch tells the story of an unlikely duo coming together and creating a unique family of their own. Stitch is an illegal experimental lifeform made by Dr. Jumba Jookimba, who has been arrested and put on trial by the Galactic Union. After escaping their judgement, Stitch crash lands on Earth, where he runs into and is adopted by Lilo. She is a troublesome young girl who is doing her best to navigate life with her older sister following the death of their parents. From there, hilarity ensues as Lilo & Stitch learn from one another while Dr. Jumba Jookimba and Pleakley attempt to capture Stitch for final judgment.

The first question that should be answered with this remake is how some of the extraordinary aliens and sets look in this live action attempt. Stitch looks absolutely phenomenal! I am amazed at how much he fits the animated version and looks menacingly adorable. Pleakley is also surprisingly good-looking, which is shocking given how unusual his overall design is. I honestly wish that they had used his alien form more than they do.

One alien that doesn’t look good in live action is Dr. Jumba. He looks quite weird in his CGI form, but he is at least accurate to his cartoon form. The only other major aspect to be brought into live action from the extraordinary is the Galactic Union Mothership and overall fleet. They look great on the outside, but the interiors seem to suffer quite a bit. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was about them due to how quickly the scenes went by, but it somewhat felt unfocused.

The story of this film is quite brilliantly heartwarming. While fans of the original will see a lot of similarities, enough is changed in this telling to keep them unsure about what may happen next. There are some changes from the original that seem to update the comedy, while others are likely to be done so that the budget didn’t go into the stratosphere. Due to these changes, it is a good thing that they didn’t tell an exact replica of the original script since it wouldn’t have landed well all of the time. The key to the story is still the dynamic between Lilo and Stitch, as well as the relationship of Lilo and Nani. Maia Kealoha does an incredible job of bringing Lilo to life, and her performance truly sells you on this entire world.

Sydney Agudong, who plays Nani, is phenomenal as she helps to ground the audience into the desperate situation that the two sisters are in when we find them. One dynamic duo within the film that I wish worked better but seemed to be rather lacking was that of Pleakley and Dr. Jumba Jookimba. Played by Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis, respectively, the two actors seem to be out of sync with one another in terms of delivering their roles. While I do not believe that either of them was phoning it in, I do believe that Billy Magnussen had a better grasp of what he had to do with the script. Zach Galifianakis seemed to be doing his best but never felt truly connected to the role. Part of this may be due to the massive changes that they made to his character, which would’ve seemed frustrating to me if I was playing Dr. Jumba Jookimba. 

The soundtrack and sound design for this film are wonderful! The soundtrack has a good mix of original and new music that truly blends together to get a true sense of the family that is being made throughout the film. The sound design from the extraterrestrial technology to the various antics that Stitch gets into brings these wild things into the real world seamlessly. My personal favorite part of the sound design is when Stitch is crashing into a wedding, and the utter destruction that follows in his wake is so perfectly put together. 

Overall, I believe that Lilo & Stitch is a wonderful outing for the whole family! There are plenty of things that the kids will giggle at and just the right amount of jokes that will go over their heads while landing with the adults. With the success of the film, I imagine that a sequel will not be too far off, so we will likely be jumping back into this world soon. Beyond that, I look forward to seeing the next projects that Maia Kealoha and Sydney Agudong star in. If you are looking for some other summer blockbusters, check out my review of Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning right here. 

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Lilo & Stitch

0.00

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• A Great Time for Families
• Jokes That Land For Adults & Kids
• Great Sound Design

Cons

• Some Visuals Seem Off
• Major Story Changes