Lilo & Stitch Review: I’m Happy To Report Stitch Is Just As Cute & Fluffy In Live-Action, But The Real Star Of The Remake Is Its Human Story

I never thought this day would come, but with the new Lilo & Stitch, we’ve somehow reached the era of live-action Disney movies where the House of Mouse is remaking films from the 2000s… so, I officially feel old. The 2002 animated film came out at the perfect time for me. I was six years old, which is the exact same age Lilo is in the movie when she wishes on a “shooting star” for an angel, all the while an extraterrestrial convict known as Experiment 626 flees to Earth in hopes of escaping his sentence.

I’ve rewatched it more times than I count, and I would consider it not only one of the best Disney movies ever made, but my personal favorite. So, Dean Fleischer Camp’s remake had a lot to live up to here.

The results? Somehow, I’ve been pleasantly dazzled by the story all over again through a new medium. Not in a "I like this more than the animated version" way, but it’s pretty much impossible to scoff at a movie as adorable as this, especially when it’s pretty darn close to hitting the sweet and emotional beats that’s as affecting as ever two decades later.

When co-writers/directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders first brought Stitch into this world, it was an especially experimental time for the company following the much beloved Disney Renaissance. Movies like The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet also came out during this more eccentric and adventure-filled era.

It’s fun to see the company go back over this movie in particular because it’s one of the most wholly original properties it has (i.e: It’s not based on a fairytale or anything like that), and the way it holds up in a new medium only highlights how special the idea was to begin with.

The latest live-action Disney remake thankfully doesn’t do CGI Stitch dirty.

Going into it, the biggest concern I had about this movie was how Stitch might translate in live-action, especially with him being a long-eared blue alien who passes himself as a dog throughout the story. It’s one of those things that works great in an animated movie, and is less believable when real people are involved. However, Disney has absolutely nailed the recreation of Stitch. A huge part of this can be credited to the voice of Stitch, Chris Sanders, coming back for another round, but the animation and effects departments clearly agonized over getting Stitch to be as cute and fluffy as he was in 2D animation.

At the same time, audiences might come out of this Lilo & Stitch feeling like the destructive alien has been a bit overshadowed by its human characters. There’s a few less gags for 626 to be part of in order to lean into the more realistic elements, and it can feel like the movie’s more so from the perspective of Nani and the adults in the movie instead of from the imaginative headspace of Lilo. You can’t have Stitch without Lilo, and newcomer Maia Kealoha brings a welcome new energy and delight to the six-year-old. There’s something about seeing an actual small child fall in love with a little alien that makes those tears flow easier than ever.

The undeniable highlight of Lilo & Stitch is how Lilo and Nani’s sisterhood storyline is elevated.

Other Disney remakes seemed to have gone into the process with hopes of updating it for a modern audience, from Snow White making its leading heroine more headstrong, to The Little Mermaid changing around some lyrics. In terms of this title, I, like many fans, didn’t see a reason for Lilo & Stitch to get this treatment. While I still stand by that on some fronts, the filmmakers do find a good reason for this movie to exist when it comes to strengthening the storyline between Lilo and her older sister, Nani.

Sydney Agudong fits right into her role as Nani, who is faced with parenting her following their mom and dad’s untimely death, all while going to school, holding a job and being a teenager. The movie adds a new social worker character, played by Nani's original voice actress, Tia Carrere, that helps ground the movie further. Courtney B. Vance’s Cobra Bubbles role feels like it isn't as prominent as in the original, but much like the rest of the movie, the actor has a more human approach than Ving Rhames’ cartoony origins as the undercover CIA agent.

The live-action movie makes some third act changes that don’t work as well as the original, but not all the shake ups are bad.

Most of Lilo & Stitch very much aims to pay tribute to favorite scenes, with tons of quotable lines and moments being recreated in a new medium. Oftentimes, it can feel like the movie is rushing through the original’s “greatest hits” and just needs to sit in the moment a bit more and allow for the audience to enjoy the Hawaiian views. But, the filmmakers do also take some creative liberties in order to better work for the live-action medium.

The results are mixed, but overall intriguing to see play out. For example, Jumba and Pleakley, the two aliens who are hired by the United Galactic Federation to retrieve Stitch from Earth, spend a lot less time in alien form and disguise themselves as humans while in Hawaii for obvious reasons. Honestly, these two aliens are kind of terrifying in live-action, so I get it. Zach Galifinakis and Billy Magnussen serviceably embody the roles, but it does feel like some goofiness from the animated form is lost this time around.

Pleakley specifically feels the most underutilized whilst Jumba is given a larger, but somehow flat role that expands into the third act. There’s definitely something refreshing about some of the turns the movie takes later in the film given most of it draws heavily from the original. The new Lilo & Stitch best changes only highlight the central message of “Ohana” throughout, and that makes it worth the ride.

As far as Disney remakes go, especially for a movie as good and well-loved as Lilo & Stitch, Dean Fleischer Camp’s movie tows a decent line of being a faithful remake and reintroducing a new generation and nostalgic longtime fans. It reminded me why I’ve loved the 2002 modern classic since I was a kid, and through many phases of my life, and also offered a new perspective to the story I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise if it hadn’t been made.