Lilo & Stitch Review: An Adorable, Heartfelt, And Aggressively Safe Reimagining

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and me crying over Experiment 626 embracing his new life as Stitch. And it is this certainty that will assure the fact that Disney is going to have to build a new vault to store all of the money they're about to make off of their live-action reimagining of "Lilo & Stitch." After the poor box office performance of the plagued-with-controversy adaptation of "Snow White," Disney needed a win. Make no mistake, they're going to win big, and it has nothing to do with whether or not their latest live-action venture is "good." People love that throaty-voiced, blue, koala-dog alien, and unlike the seven nightmarish dwarfs magical creatures, he translates perfectly into realistic CGI.

This live-action version is actually the sixth movie in the franchise, in addition to the two seasons of the hit animated series. It's also the second-best movie in the franchise, tragically forced to live in the shadows of the pretty-close-to-perfect original film forever. Fortunately, this new "Lilo & Stitch" isn't trying to compete with its source material, and boldly refocuses the emotional heartstrings in a new direction. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same ham-fisted over-explaining, unnaturally presentational, and lack of nuance storytelling currently plaguing everything studio executives know will be watched non-stop by people half paying attention once it hits a streaming service.

"Lilo & Stitch" is banking on our love and adoration of the original and the hypnotic power of seeing Stitch look like a tangible creature, and for the most part, it works. But no matter how cute Stitch is and no matter how impressive Maia Kealoha's breakthrough performance is as Lilo, it's a film that's playing it safe and winds up softening the edges that made the original film so special.

When the titular character is six years old, finding a child who can convincingly carry an entire movie while acting opposite a computerized creature is no easy task, but Disney proves once again why they are the gold standard in finding children who will grow up to be superstars with Maia Kealoha. This little girl is giving her absolute all in this movie, as evident by the full-on, snot-nosed blubbering cry she delivers toward the end of the film. Her energy is infectious, and she's clearly having the time of her life, but I can't help but wish she'd been offered the same material to work with that original voice actor, Daveigh Chase, was given 23 years ago.

This version of Lilo is adorable, precocious, and certainly wise beyond her years, but the script doesn't let her be a true oddball who is very clearly struggling with the loss of her parents. Anything "weird" about Lilo is just garden-variety latchkey kid stuff, like hyper-independence, an overactive imagination, and the ability to hold court while surrounded by adults. But she's not weird. When she nervously asks her sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) if she's "bad," it doesn't hit as hard because we've not really seen Lilo do anything that could be perceived as such.

Bully Mertle and her friends are even sanded down, their cruelty feeling like run-of-the-mill mean girl antics rather than the deeply layered rivalry that came before. I get it, Disney doesn't want children emulating the behavior they see on screen, so Lilo only pushes Mertle off the stage during their hula performance after she intentionally knocked Lilo to the ground (instead of deservedly beating the brakes off of her), but the lack of intentionality behind their bullying has a ripple effect of cheapening Lilo's desperation for a true friend.

But when Lilo finally meets Stitch? Kealoha takes the wheel of the whole damn film and never lets go.

While Stitch is painfully adorable running around in live-action, Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) and Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) look a little nightmarish. Back in space, they fit right in with the other off-brand "Star Wars" fish-aliens (I am particularly fond of the new sociopathic axolotl-inspired alien), but the movie wisely gives them the technology to transform into human beings. While I am still very disappointed that Pleakley didn't just turn into a one-eyed alien in drag (director Dean Fleischer Camp tried, y'all), I am glad that it means we got Billy Magnussen wearing fruity little outfits, including a crochet mesh shirt with a giant flower on it. Magnussen fully commits to the flamboyant physical comedy the character requires, and I think Kevin McDonald would be proud of how his character has evolved.

As for Galifianakis' Jumba ... let's just say he's part of one of the biggest changes to the source material, and it doesn't work. At all. It's arguably the biggest misfire in the whole film, save for the complete avoidance of critiquing the tourism industry in Hawai'i. Those Aulani resort reservations won't sell themselves!

Fortunately, one of the most pleasant changes comes with the inclusion of characters invented for Tia Carrere and Amy Hill, who both provided voices in the original film. Carrere is the social worker assigned to Nani and Lilo's case before Agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) shows up working undercover to secretly investigate Stitch, and she has the difficult job of grounding the film with the harsh realities of sibling guardianship. Hill plays Tūtū, the grandmother of himbo surfer David (Kaipo Dudoit) and Nani's greatest support system in raising her little sister. Both women add a refreshing sense of community that was lacking in the original film, and feed into the strongest aspect of this new story.

The core theme of "Lilo & Stitch" in all of its forms has always been in its most memorable line, "Ohana means family and family means nobody is left behind or forgotten." Even through some clunky pacing issues, this mantra radiates throughout the film. There's a stronger focus on Lilo and Nani's relationship — their undeniable bond and their heartbreaking tensions. The two sisters have endured an unfathomable tragedy, and now Nani must sacrifice any hopes she had for her own future to take care of her little sister. I'm not going to wade into the discourse surrounding Agudong's casting as a light-skinned, fit actress because my white ass has no place in that conversation, but I will say that there is a benefit to seeing this story play out in live action because seeing the unmistakable youth in Nani's face really hammers home that she's practically a child herself. These moments are also where director Dean Fleischer Camp really shines, evoking the quiet, touching power displayed in "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On." This version of Nani and Lilo's relationship is far closer to reality, which makes the heartstring-pulling snap back with even more intensity. In a cute albeit sanitized reimagining, the bond of these sisters is the one thing that cannot be broken.

I was 12 when the animated version of "Lilo & Stitch" first hit theaters, and that summer, I would have confidently taken a bullet for the little chaos gremlin. Now, I'm nearly 35, and I'm comfortable admitting I still feel the same way. Even in a perfectly "fine" movie, all it takes is Chris Sanders' weird voice croaking out "family" and Disney's got me hook, line, and sinker. Or in this case, ready to rock a friendship bracelet made out of fishing lure garbage.

/Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

"Lilo & Stitch" arrives in theaters on May 23, 2025.