I remember going to see Lilo & Stitch when it was first released in theaters— quite vividly, in fact. I was 11 years old, it was summer break, June 2002, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, and likely hot as hades. My mom, my brother, and I joined up with one of my friends, her younger siblings, and their mom to go watch the newest animated Disney joint at the local theater, although I wasn’t especially thrilled, as this one wasn’t about princesses and therefore not relevant to my interests. But I recall enjoying the film, quite a bit more than I anticipated (I also remember being surprised by Like Mike, which you may recall is the movie starring rapper Lil’ Bow Wow as a down-on-his-luck kid who inherits magic basketball talents after finding an old pair of Michael Jordan’s sneakers. My friend’s mom snuck us all into the auditorium screening that one immediately after Lilo & Stitch ended, which is possibly the most criminal act I have ever engaged in in my life).
None of that really matters, except to aid in my assertion that despite possessing a tangible nostalgic connection to the original movie, my qualms with its new live-action remake— the latest in Disney’s seemingly never-ending cycle of nostalgic bait media— are rooted in reasons other than the mere fact that Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes’ screenplay makes numerous alterations. When I watch Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong), the young woman fresh out of high school who dreams of going to school for marine biology but is committed to being her six-year-old sister Lilo’s (Maia Kealoha) guardian in the wake of their parents’ death, Lilo, and Lilo’s newly adopted pet Stitch (a blue, koala-like alien experiment from the planet Turo, masquerading as a dog) interact, everything about the girls’ caring gestures and expressions tell me I should be rooting for this family of two to become a family of three. And yet, the CGI Stitch doesn’t mesh seamlessly enough with his very real surroundings. When Nani or Lilo reach out to hug or pet him, it’s clear that they are touching something that isn’t actually there. “Ohana means family” may be a pure and heartfelt message, but it’s sandwiched inside a project that largely fails to pass for anything but cheap.
It is rather disappointing that as charming as Lilo & Stitch is, it lacks the imagination of the original film, especially considering that the remake is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, the creator of the Marcel the Shell with Shoes On shorts (and director of the subsequent feature film of the same name) that are such a clever and creative melding of live actors and sets with animated characters. That’s not to say that his Lilo & Stitch isn’t still consistently engaging, nor that it doesn’t have enough material to appeal to both children (who will certainly giggle at the slapstick antics of Stitch and relate to Lilo’s status as an outcast amongst her peers) and adults (this film skews more heavily toward Nani and the adult responsibilities she’s facing, despite almost being a kid herself). Kealoha, making her film debut, is utterly adorable, her sunny enthusiasm providing the perfect counterbalance to Agudong’s pragmatism, which may be a sticking point for some. Among some of the diversions from the original story are Tūtū, Nani and Lilo’s older neighbor (Amy Hill, playing a character original to this film), being the person who allows Lilo to adopt Stitch, an action in this film that the already strained Nani is vehemently opposed to, even after witnessing the lonely Lilo wish on a star (actually Stitch’s crashing spaceship) for a friend. Does this slightly different, more grounded approach to Nani somewhat detract from the narrative’s overall sense of whimsy? Yes, but it also fleshes out the sisters’ relationship in meaningful ways without losing sight of the fact that Nani still, above all else, wants to do what’s best for Lilo.
More egregious is the fact that Lilo & Stitch is set in and filmed in Hawaii, one of the most beautiful locations on the planet, and yet still looks so bland, despite some minimal effort to draw a distinction between the island’s native inhabitants and the natural landscape and the tourist-inhabited resorts and hot spots that pop up along the beaches (an amusing moment at the start of the film finds Lilo sneaking into one of the resorts to use their pool, while she and Stitch later wreck havoc at one of the resort’s luaus). The overly cartoonish alien characters always feel like they just walked in from an entirely different movie; the initial transition from space to under the sea is truly jarring. Lilo & Stitch may miss some comedy points by having the aliens Dr. Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) take human form when they arrive on Earth to hunt down Stitch for the Grand Councilwoman (voiced by Hannah Waddingham) as opposed to donning absurd disguises, but that change effectively serves the live action format better, while still allowing for some solid fish-out-of-water humor and physical comedy. Some of that expanded plot that’s typical of these Disney remakes is clunkier, however, like the separating of Cobra Bubbles— who in the animated movie is outwardly Nani and Lilo’s social worker, but secretly a CIA agent— into two distinct characters: the social worker Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere, who voiced Nani in the original movie and its subsequent sequels and spinoffs) and the agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance).
At least the nods to the original film are largely unobtrusive and actually rather sweet, like the casting of Carrere and Jason Scott Lee (who voiced Nani’s friend David in the original movie) in small roles, Chris Sanders (the voice of Stitch as well as writer and director of the original film) returning to voice Stitch again, employing the same Elvis Presley soundtrack, and the use of the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus— who performed “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” for the original film— on both a new track and a new version of that former song for this movie. And the film itself is sweet too. Despite some missteps, it’s serviceable family entertainment whose heart is in the right place. Or maybe it isn’t; these films are largely made to make a buck off brand familiarity, not for any artistic merit, although Lilo & Stitch isn’t nearly as morally bankrupt as many of its contemporaries. Even Lil’ Bow Wow, as of 2021, was trying to mount a direct sequel to Like Mike with that film’s original writer. When you live in a society governed by capitalism, nothing is sacred.
Lilo & Stitch is now playing in theaters. Runtime: 108 minutes. Rated PG.
Katie at the Movies 