Lilo & Stitch

Another sweet if slightly diluted remake

Disney’s live-action remakes of animated classics follow a clear pattern when it comes to financial success. Remakes of films from the studio’s first Golden Era in the 1930s and ’40s—such as Lady and the Tramp (2019), Dumbo (2019), and Pinocchio (2022)—have largely flopped, likely because modern audiences lack the nostalgia of having grown up with those originals. In contrast, remakes of the Second Golden Era classics from the post-1980s—like Beauty and the Beast (2017), The Lion King (2019), and Aladdin (2019)—have become box office juggernauts. This trend has continued this year with the poorly received Snow White(2025) remake and the widely praised and commercially successful Lilo & Stitch (2025).

Lilo & Stitch is a live-action remake of the beloved 2002 animated film. Once again, we follow the mischievous alien Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders) as he escapes the Galactic Council and crash-lands in Hawaii. Mistaken for a dog, he’s adopted by Lilo (Maia Kealoha), an optimistic but socially isolated girl living with her older sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong), who is struggling to prove to child services that she can care for Lilo following their parents’ deaths. Meanwhile, sent by the Galactic Council to re-capture Stitch are his mad-scientist creator Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and the Earth-obsessed Pleakly (Billy Magnussen).

This remake is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, who was previously known for directing the adorable Marcel the Shell with Shoes On shorts, and his biggest film had been the 2021 feature-length adaptation of those shorts. A jump to a blockbuster is a dizzying one for any director, yet studios prefer to pluck up-and-coming directors to better boss them around. This usually leads to factory-produced slog, yet Lilo & Stitch has strong source material to take from, the original essentially an adaptation of E.T. (1982) and as such even this executive-tested and approved remake is endearing and enjoyable to watch.

It helps that the original film already felt modern and unproblematic, with unconventional family structures, modern technology, and minority representation. The result is that there doesn’t need to be any significant changes that come off as tokenism and corporate pats-on-the-back for being “of-the-moment.” The result is that this remake is faithful to the original, choosing instead to expand and trim the narrative elements of its choosing.

The heart of the first film was the bond between the two sisters and it is given even more prominence in this remake. Nani’s role is expanded, and the looming threat of child services adds a realistic tension. Kealoha and Agudong have great chemistry, making their relationship believable and moving. Agudong in particular elevates Nani beyond the script’s more generic lines, delivering a grounded and heartfelt performance. Meanwhile, Stitch’s chaotic energy is well preserved in the CGI rendering, balancing slapstick with emotional beats.

Still, like many Disney remakes, the emotional impact feels diluted. The film sets up strong character arcs and emotional stakes but rarely follows through with the kind of gut-punch moments the original delivered. The result is pleasant but less resonant.

The film’s biggest weaknesses lie in its side characters. While Jumba and Pleakly were comedic highlights in the animated film, here they are transformed into their human voice actors (a smart way to save money on fully CG characters), yet the antics the two get to are cringe slapstick that the film isn’t interested in. The narrative forgets about them for long stretches of time and their sequences are cut minimally short when they do appear. They also have none of the chemistry that the original’s animated counterparts had. Ditto to the character of David (Kaipo Dudoit), Nani crush, who was one of the sweetest romantic interests in Disney animation; courteous, helpful, and charming, who helped Nani babysit Lilo when needed, never complained, and was her biggest fan. In this remake he's a goofy and clueless neighbor who has two lines of dialogue. At a time when showing a healthy male role model is desperately needed, a direct translation of David would have been appreciated.

The 2002 Lilo & Stitch had a kinetic energy in its animation that would have been impossible to translate to live-action. The CGI Stitch in this newest version retains some of that chaotic energy, but the rest of the characters and world feel inevitably colder. However, this remake still delivers the core elements that made the animated version a sweet watch, and while a dilution of emotional beats means the best narrative beats don’t hit as strong, it nevertheless proves to be a serviceable and enjoyable watch.

6.9/10