Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, Lilo & Stitch follows the story of a lonely human girl named Lilo (Maia Kealoha) who adopts a dog-like alien named Stitch (Chris Sanders) to mend her fractured family, unaware that Stitch is genetically engineered to be a force of destruction, and is being pursued by aliens, while she teaches Stitch the idea of family.
Ever since 2010 there has been a consistent release of numerous live-action remakes or reimaginings of several classic animated Disney films that have been the subject of criticism, controversy, and discussion on how much Disney as a studio has gotten lazy with its refusal to focus purely on original ideas. Out of 20 live-action remakes/reimaginings released since 2010 I’ve only seen 14 of them and I only liked or loved six of those 14, while the rest to me personally were some of the laziest corporate cash grabs that barely did anything new and mostly just felt like copy and pasted versions of the animated films without any heart, effort or soul. Because of that I chose to skip any upcoming Disney live-action remakes coming out and I had zero interest in blindly supporting these lazy cash grabs. Based on how terribly received most of the remakes have been by reviewers and audiences after 2021 when I chose to stop seeing them I felt I made the right choice in skipping them.
Then this live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch comes along helmed by the director who made the immensely charm-filled film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On that has gotten everyone highly praising it more than any live-action remake has done in years. That combined with my immense love for all things Lilo & Stitch when I was growing up convinced me to go and give this a watch in theaters. Was my choice to break my oath worth it? Surprisingly yes.
It took them four years to do it but finally there is a new Disney live action film that didn’t feel soulless and I can proudly say I really enjoyed! Much like the original film it’s a chaotic and emotional tale that’s full of heart, charm, joy and waves of emotions that will mostly satisfy fans of the original story, welcome in a new generation of fans, and likely appease those who have wanted a remake or reimagining that offers something new instead of the same thing just in live-action format.
There are some flaws with it and it has some changes from the original that I’m a little bit mixed on, but for the most part the pros of this film severely outweigh its cons and it mostly retains what made the original so magical and important.
There was so much to adore from this new take on Lilo & Stitch and that includes the cast who all, apart from two, were perfect for the roles they were picked for. Easily the best performance of this film is Maia Kealoha as Lilo, who is the most perfect live-action casting of a Disney character we could have ever asked for. In fact she is so perfect that I honestly prefer her more over the original Lilo and that’s saying a lot. She shines in the spotlight with her breakout role as she perfectly encapsulates the essence of the character while also bringing out waves of emotions with her performance. She will have your heart the moment you see her on-screen and she will keep having it throughout the entirety of the film.
Also having your heart and delivering a fantastic performance next to her is Sydney Elizebeth Agudong as her older sister Nani. Much like in the original she is dealing with the increasing pressures of having to take care of Lilo and live her own life but in this version of the film there is a lot more depth given to her and her sisterly relationship with Lilo, thanks largely to their performances both individually and together. Through both of them the meaning of ohana feels like it hits harder and has never been more important than it was, which is something I didn’t expect to get in this adaptation but is an extremely welcome addition.
Adding on to that we get to see Nani have a lot more moments of her own as a character, especially in the emotional moments and surprisingly even in third act, unlike in the original where she ended up taking a back seat for the majority of the third act. They even show how Nani has been given opportunities to live out her own life but she stubbornly refuses to do so, choosing to instead stay and care for Lilo, which I won’t lie reminded me a lot of myself with some various opportunities I chose not to pursue when caring for my mother when she wasn’t well. These are the kind of character changes that I’ve been wanting to see in the Disney live-action remakes for a while now that expand upon the original characters instead of drastically changing them to fit a corporate narrative.
Then of course we have our beloved Stitch, reprised by the original voice actor and director of the first film Chris Sanders, who is just as perfect in live-action as he has been in animation. He is chaos incarnate in an adorable fluffy body that is brought to life through gorgeous CGI that has so much amazing detail to it, making him visually appealing to see every time he is on screen. They stayed true to his design and made sure he looked as perfect as possible, as well as make him frantically move fluidly in the same way he has done in animation.
Most of the time the previous Disney live-action adaptations tend to slow down the non-human animated characters they adapt to the new format but thankfully that isn’t the case for Stitch. He is still just as hyper-energetic and crazy as he always was, and of course Chris Sanders voices him as wonderfully as he did before, both with dialogue from the original as well as new dialogue and noises that he gets the chance to unleash with that hilarious voice of his. You are guaranteed to love him as there is nothing truly wrong with him in the slightest, especially since they also stay true to his arc from the original of going from bad to good.
Kaipo Dudoit does a really good job playing the role of David Kawena, fully embracing the kindness and awkwardness of the original character without hesitation, but there is a new change they have added with him that I didn’t expect and that was they gave him a grandmother, named Tūtū, who plays her own vital supporting role in the film.
Tūtū is a wonderful gem of an original character that adds additional warmth and charm to this film with her presence as well as her performance by the immensely lovable Amy Hill, who funnily enough did the voice of Mrs. Hasagawa from the original film and the series. We also have the original voice actress of Nani, Tia Carrere, play a supporting role in this film as another original character that I thought was a solid addition while also paying some respect to the cast of the original film by having her involved.
Cobra Bubbles, played by Courtney B. Vance, is involved in this remake but instead of being a former CIA agent turned social worker for the Pelekais’ like in the original film, he only poses as a social worker and remains as a CIA agent investigating Stitch in this one. Now this change for the character is fine in my view but I’ll be honest I didn’t like this version of the character much compared to the original, mainly due to the performance. Bubbles was only a minor supporting character in the original but he had immense presence thanks to the voice performance of Ving Rhames that made him memorable, while Courtney B. Vance didn’t bring forth that kind of presence in his portrayal of the character. He does a good job performance-wise in this film but he just didn’t feel as memorable or intimidating in this one, which made me wish we had Ving Rhames reprising the role instead.
Now in regard to our dynamic alien duo of Dr. Jumba Jookiba and Agent Wendell Pleakley, this is where things get a little mixed for me. In this version of the film there is no Gantu so we have Jumba serving as the film’s villain instead, with him wanting to take Stitch away for his own evil deeds rather than taking his heroic turn near the end of the original film.
This change in direction of the character may be divisive for some but I personally didn’t mind it myself. My problem is with Zach Galifianakis playing the role of the character as I feel he was a massive miscast. Zach can be a great actor but his performance in this film does not fit at all for this character nor does it carry the same amount of weight and humor that the late David Ogden Stiers delivered in his performance as Jumba in the entirety of the Lilo & Stitch franchise. Zach doesn’t even attempt to give Jumba his iconic Russian accent and instead settles with a basic and plain American accent that didn’t even sound remotely threatening or funny. Someone like David Harbour could have been more fitting for this role and could have made the turn in direction for the character feel more interesting and investing with a stronger voice behind it.
While Jumba was completely miscast it’s a completely different story for Pleakley as he was given a spot-on portrayal by Billy Magnussen. Billy delivers immense amounts of physical and verbal comedy as Pleakly that was absolutely hilarious, proving himself to be an underrated gem in this film. He may be a less cowardly version of the original character but he is still very much the flamboyant lovable alien we all know and love from the original that Billy Magnussen performs perfectly. It’s unfortunate that he ends up being the best of the duo when truthfully they both should be on the same level performance-wise. They share a fun dynamic but it’s not quite the same as what they were like in the original film where both were evenly fun and funny.
Unlike in the original film where they had hilariously obvious disguises on to blend in as they hunt for Stitch, they instead use hologram projections when appearing as “human” with their actors portraying the characters in their “human” forms and voicing them in their true alien forms. While I get this change was done to make things a bit more realistic regarding how anyone with a brain could see through their disguises it does end up taking away the humor of the original gag.
Also while their CGI along with the effects of the rest of the aliens featured in the film looks fairly good I do wish the filmmakers could have gone a more practical route for all of them. Given how many practical aliens we have had in Star Wars and the MCU that are both funded by Disney couldn’t they have at least tried to do the same here? Their designs are not necessarily impossible to pull off in practical form so I feel that is one opportunity the film missed out on doing.
This remake’s narrative sticks closely to the story and messages of the original while adding new changes to prevent it from being a complete frame-by-frame recreation like we have had so many times in the past. While some of the changes can be a bit questionable many others are welcome as they end up enhancing and expanding upon the heart, the charm, and the themes that the original film laid the groundwork for. The third act is largely changed up from the original as are some parts of the ending due to the absence of Gantu and while I certainly prefer the more sci-fi action adventure third act we got in the original I will admit that the third act of this film does have its own strong moments that really worked for me personally and once again enhance the film’s heart and themes in unexpected ways.
The pacing is also a bit questionable as it ends up speed running through certain parts of the original film that I feel they shouldn’t have, yet it doesn’t completely ruin the film since it does slow down for the important heartfelt parts to make a proper impact. Some people may not entirely agree with all of the changes made in this adaptation but I think most will agree that the most important elements of the original are maintained and that this film has the same level of emotion and soul as the original does, maybe even more so at times.
On a technical level, this film is visually the most gorgeous live-action Disney film to date that doesn’t rely heavily on CGI sets or surroundings and instead opts for the natural and practical beauty of the island of Hawaii, which I am majorly happy with. Everything from the on-location sets to the cinematography to the vibrant natural colors truly pops out, making it feel like the animated film comes to life in the best way possible, as well as giving audiences a sense of warmth and joy as if they were actually there with the characters.
Dan Romer replaces Alan Silverstri as the composer for this remake but he does a solid job with the music in this film, adding his own unique score as opposed to recreating the same score from the original with only minor changes. However, we do get the return of all of the iconic songs featured in the original which were all recreated through new artists and choruses but they are all performed beautifully, bringing out the nostalgic joy and emotions as the original songs did. And before anyone asks, yes we do still get the fun Elvis songs featured in the original in this one.
After having sworn off so many Disney live-action remakes in recent years I’m glad I gave this one a chance because I think it’s one of the best and most passionately made ones we have had since Cruella. I highly recommend people take the plunge and give this one a go as it is likely to deliver great amounts of joy and heartwarming emotion that the world really needs some of right now. I’m going to give Lilo & Stitch (2025) an A- = 93.
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