[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD]
It’s the night before a heartbreaking day for Nani. She rocks in a hammock on the balcony, her little sister, Lilo, tucked in her arms. The hanging fairy lights surround them in a warm, yellow glow as memories of their parents flood back to them. Nani hums softly as she strums a ukulele, enjoying the last few moments she gets with her sister before she gives up custody. All the while, Stitch willingly isolates himself at a dog shelter, feeling guilty for all the destruction he has caused the sisters.
This was the only impactful scene throughout the entire one hour and 40 minute “Lilo & Stitch” movie.
Released by Disney on May 23, 2025 as a live action adaptation of the 2003 animated “Lilo & Stitch,” this movie was highly anticipated by many — and in some ways, it managed to deliver. While the adaptation took some creative liberties and differed from the original plot, the overarching premise of the movie remained the same: Stitch, an alien experiment, drops down to Earth and meets a Hawaiian girl named Lilo Pelekai. Nani — Lilo’s older sister and only guardian — juggles keeping their family afloat, fighting for custody of Lilo and trying to manage Stitch’s destructive behavior.
Although set entirely in a CGI universe, the first half of “Lilo & Stitch,” although set entirely in a CGI universe, includes the fluid, believable animation and vibrant colors expected from a traditional Disney film. With some of the movie set in present-day, lively Hawaii, the colors and sets remain consistently clear, even during darker night scenes and underwater. Compared to many films these days — such as the adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” — where nighttime scenes are fully in low contrast and shadow and even magical settings are bleakly colored, this is a plus.
Furthermore, Stitch is animated perfectly: chaotic and beast-like yet weirdly adorable — just like in the original 2D animation. At the beginning of the movie, he appears with six limbs, six wings and antennas, making him appear more monstrous than in the later half of the movie, when he retracts these elements and resembles a koala-bunny mix, and his personality mellows down with his appearance. His ears are particularly detailed and expressive, flopping and perking up to reflect his emotions.
Despite the movie’s stellar animation, its character arcs fall short in comparison to the original. Although the original “Lilo & Stitch” was a 2D animated movie, the characters felt 3D — complex and nuanced. The remake, ironically, has characters that feel more 2D than the original, although it is set in a 3D world. Jumba, who in the original was a secondary antagonist turned anti-hero, for example, becomes a caricature of a villain in the latter half of the film; Pleakley is used almost exclusively for comedic relief through his astonishing incompetence. And, most importantly, Nani seems like a completely different character — her initial doting older sister charm now lost to her new personality, which only highlights her crassness and none of her gentleness or sarcastic sass. In the original movie, Nani fights to keep both Lilo and Stitch — and succeeds. In the adaptation, Nani almost abandons Stitch, gives up custody of Lilo, and leaves Hawaii to study marine biology at UC San Diego. Marine biology. Away from Hawaii.
The movie also struggles on a more fundamental level — maintaining a logical plot. Instead of having the characters drive the plot, the movie forces its characters to move in service of the plot, and everything feels artificial as a result. Since the characters have been modified to be more one-dimensional and less lovable, most intended emotional peaks feel shallow and unaffecting.
Furthermore, Stitch’s character is riddled with plot holes. Supposedly, Stitch is a ruthless bioweapon that cannot be killed. Then, in the penultimate scene, he drowns to “death” before coming back to life. The cliched nature of this cop-out is already bad enough, but the thing is it doesn’t even work. The viewers know Stitch is indestructible, and thus it’s only logical that he survives. A death scene, which is supposed to evoke strong emotions, now becomes a scene where the viewer simply waits for the characters to stop crying over nothing.
Compared to its predecessor, the most unfaithful aspect of the movie was the fact that it was missing an entire character: Captain Gantu, who was also the original main antagonist. One of the only faithful aspects of the movie is how they kept the original theme song, which helped boost nostalgia.
And that’s what this movie boils down to: nostalgia. The main objective of this movie was to target people’s nostalgic connection to the original “Lilo & Stitch,” but unfortunately, it does exactly the opposite. Viewers who are unfamiliar with the original movie may enjoy the live action, however, for viewers who are attached to or even respect the original characters and plot, it’s not difficult to recognize that this is a disappointing adaptation.
While charming and enjoyable during the watch, the movie’s flaws are still apparent in the few memorable scenes, rushed pacing and watered down characters. The film only works as a standalone, a project divorced from the original, but even then, there are still a few loose stitches.
RATING: 3/5
