Lilo & Stitch

The Plot: 6-year-old Lilo (Maia Kealoha) misses her parents dearly. Her antics often draw the attention of her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong), who sometimes acts more like a mother. Lilo needs a friend who can keep her amused and engage with her boundless energy. Enter a blue dog: Stitch. He’s not just any dog – he’s an alien reject from an experiment on another world and crash lands on Earth. Lilo and Stitch immediately take to each other, finding a common bond in their love of anarchy. However, with two alien agents (Zach Galifianakis, Billy Magnussen) and a CIA agent (Courtney B. Vance) on his tail, Stitch will have to be kept a quiet secret…

The Verdict: The Disney animation-to-live-action remake machine is still chugging along nicely. It sputtered quite a bit after the unfairly maligned Snow White crashed and burned at the box office. The internet and its keyboard warriors just had it in for that film, but maybe time will be kinder to it. Next in line is Lilo & Stitch, which comes out of the machine looking as bright and colourful as a Hawaiian shirt and as welcoming as Hawaii itself. No controversies here to hobble it before it even went into production, unless of course there are fans of the original 2002 animation who are worried that it will come out as something throwaway and forgettable. That’s not likely to happen. Originally intended for Disney+ subscribers only, we can thank the positive test screenings that convinced the powers-that-be to bring it to a wider audience in the communal atmosphere of the cinema where audible laughs can be heard throughout.

The script by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, Mike Van Waes and Dean DeBlois essentially plays out like a cross between E.T., Gremlins and Short Circuit – though, thankfully not the notorious Mac And Me with its blatant, feature-length product placement. The script sketches out two key relationships that Lilo has – with her sister Nani and with her newfound alien friend Stitch. There’s a rather lovely comparison between the mischievous but fun Lilo and the anarchic, reactionary Stitch as he hits the ground running on Earth and tears through a wedding to much amusement. Lilo is wise beyond her young years, while Stitch is like a toddler on steroids. They make a dynamite combination on paper, but that also works onscreen where there’s genuine heart at work as the duo bond over their love of playful mischief. Chris Sanders (who recently made his own animation The Wild Robot) provides the voice of Stitch and he nails that anarchic vibe as Stitch stomps through sandcastles inspired by a scene in 50s B-movie Earth Vs The Spider (nice touch).

The film is at its best when the title characters are onscreen together along with Nani who is the connecting tissue between them. Less so elsewhere. Dean Fleischer Camp’s direction is, well, a bit camp when it comes to the other characters as pursuing aliens flit between their googly-eye or ‘potato with hair’ forms into Billy Magnussen,and Zach Galifianakis respectively. They provide a good bit of knockabout comedy when it comes to their profound ineptness in capturing Stitch. Some suspension of disbelief is required when a CIA agent develops a heart later on, but this being a family film such plot holes can be papered over without too much fuss. There is that emphasis on family throughout and what it means to find and be a part of one. That’s something immediately identifiable without being patronising. While it is very much a family film, there are plenty of laughs here for both children and their parents alike. Despite some flaws, Lilo & Stitch is frequently engaged with enough of the good stuff to stand out on its own as a worthy live action remake. It’s sweet, funny and has that cosy and comfortable afterglow of a well-made Disney film that crosses generational boundaries.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Review by Gareth O’Connor