by Tim Gordon
Well, Disney’s remake conveyor belt spits out another one, this time it’s Lilo & Stitch getting the live-action/CGI treatment nobody asked for.
The heartwarming tale of lonely misfits and Hawaiian ‘ohana’ is still here, but now wrapped in that shiny, safe nostalgia glaze that says, “Hey, remember this? Please buy it again.” The chaos is familiar, the alien is adorable, but the magic? It mostly got lost somewhere in the upgrade.
The story sticks close to the original: on the far-off planet Turo, mad scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba creates Experiment 626, a tiny ball of destructive chaos. After he escapes to Earth, the Galactic Federation cuts a deal with Jumba and the clueless Earth “expert” Pleakley to hunt him down. Cue crash-landing in Kaua’i, where 626 finds himself in an animal shelter, pretending to be the world’s ugliest dog.
Enter Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha, a sweet debut), a lonely Hawaiian girl struggling to fit in at hula school and hold her little family together. She adopts 626, now renamed “Stitch,” and the two outcasts become instant ohana, whether her overwhelmed sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) likes it or not. Of course, Stitch’s penchant for chaos quickly makes life even harder for Nani, who’s already under the watchful eye of suspicious social workers and the mysterious Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance).
Some things do work: Chris Sanders returns to voice Stitch, preserving the lovable gremlin energy that made the original so iconic. The Hawaiian setting still bursts with warmth and charm. And there’s some genuine sweetness when the film leans into the small moments of found family.
But here’s the rub: the new version never feels like it brings anything new to the luau. The CGI Stitch looks “real” in that weird, not-quite-cuddly way that so many live-action Disney creatures do. The goofy alien chases, the Elvis soundtrack, the surfing scenes, they’re all dutifully recreated, but the heart feels photocopied.
For kids meeting Lilo and Stitch for the first time, it’s passable family fun. For fans who grew up with the 2002 classic, it’s just another reminder that Disney’s remake machine will keep mining its animated vaults until every last hand-drawn gem has a shiny new coat of live-action paint.
Grade: C
