Lilo & Stitch

From all the live-action Disney remakes, one could say that Lilo & Stitch is one of the most unnecessary ones. The original movie is still relatively recent and the character remains hugely popular in merchandising sales. Yet, after watching the new movie, directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, I am convinced that this will be one of the most successful remakes commercially. In fact, I would say this will help change the negative perception that these kind of live-action remakes have in the public. Not because it's great, because it isn't, but it's good enough, adding the right amount of new things to justify its existence while being very faithful to the movie everyone loves so that it doesn't feel "disrespectful", as many people claim those movies are.

Not that the little ones will care much about that, they just want to see the adorable yet extremely naughty Stitch being mischievous and causing havoc, sometimes downright dangerous, wherever he goes. The new movie offers even more of that type of humour, but it also adds more content for the older audiences to appreciate (many current young adults grew up with Lilo & Stitch when it was fresh and new), who will empathise more with Nani and her financial and emotional struggles taking care of Lilo all by herself. It's a really good balance between heart and the slapstick comedy.

It also helps that the movie looks "good enough", meaning that it doesn't look like it has been shot on a green screen filled later with uncanny CGI creatures and unrealistic lighting. As is obligatory with these live-action projects, Stitch is now a furry-photorealistic creature, but identical in shape to the alien we all know and love. It's a lesson learnt from Sonic, and nothing to complain about even if some adults have said they don't like the new Stitch, but children will adore it the same way we all did with the original 2D drawing.

All the other non-human characters get new realistic redesigns, but with some important changes regarding Pleakley and Jumba, voiced by Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis, who also appear in human form, perhaps to reduce budget and count on some more familiar faces in the human cast. The still unknown Sydney Elizebeth Agudong (who got backlash for being too white as compared to the original design) gets the role of Nani, and she does a fine but not memorable job, while Maia Kealoha makes a charming film debut as Lilo. Tia Carrere, the original voice of Nani, plays a new character, with Courtney B. Vance playing Cobra Bubbles. Even Chris Sanders, the original director, returns to voice Stitch, despite long working for the competent, DreamWorks (he directed How to Train your Dragon and recently The Wild Robot).

Having watched both films back-to-back, I find this new version of Lilo & Stitch a superior film to the original, but not to the point of replacing it. The story is the same beat-by-beat, but the new version adds a bit more depth to Nani, giving her a new background and putting her at the emotional core of the film, even if she still feels a little underdeveloped. It does tend to underline a bit too obviously (or literally say out loud) some of the plot points and character motivations that are implied or hinted ambiguously in the original film, as if they didn't trust audiences (maybe small children) to understand. It doesn't bog the film down or anything like that, and for the most part every little tweak here and there in the script is welcome, even if it doesn't add too much new.

There are not many changes except for the ending, which, perhaps to the disappointment of fans, has got rid of Gantu, the giant villainous shark-thing. Therefore, the entire final chase scene has been redone and significantly reduced in scope. While it may be for budgetary reasons (the film reportedly cost $100 million, which is less than half of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Mufasa, or Snow White), I find it to be one of the better changes. It eliminates some redundancies, makes Lilo and Nani more proactive, and adds a more symbolic and tear-inducing emotional climax that may catch you off guard.

If you're disappointed that the film doesn't really expand on Stitch's mythology and that the aliens take an even smaller role than before, you should not worry. This film will most likely become a huge success, so a sequel will almost certainly happen, and with three direct-to-video sequels and a 65-episode series (that you can watch on Disney+) to borrow elements from, there will be a lot more Lilo & Stitch in the future. In fact, it already has some fun Easter eggs for fans...

Lilo & Stitch is not mind-blowing or anything like that, and as a remake it's a little innocuous and safe, which is understandable but perhaps a little disappointing, giving the original was praised because of how disruptive it was with the traditional Disney canon and more childish humour. It doesn't make it any less entertaining and charming, however, and it still feels refreshing on its own right, like a Hawaiian vacation from the tired princess/fantasy/talking animals trope in Disney film, plus while it will not stun adults, it will please most of them, while children will absolutely adore it. A true winner for Disney, finally.