It’s possible that, more than twenty years since its initial release, many movie-goers have forgotten just how high the stakes are in Chris Sanders and Dean DeBois’ animated charmer Lilo & Stitch. You’d be forgiven for not entirely remembering that the comedy, which follows the antics of its eponymous BFFs (Lilo, a rambunctious five-year-old with a real flair for getting into trouble and Stitch, a rambunctious bright blue alien with a real flair for getting into trouble), is also about a family devastated by personal tragedy, desperately trying to hold on to each other in the face of very tough odds.

 

When said rambunctious bright blue alien crash-lands into the lives of Lilo and her big sister Nani, he adds a touch of whimsy and some nutty adventures into their otherwise complicated lives. Bolstered by cute and cuddly creature design, catchy tunes, and frequent reminders about the importance of ohana (family), the 2002 Disney animated outing is an enduring gem that combines wacky fun with some necessary lessons. It works so well because of its wily combination of packaging and messaging.

 

But it also works significantly less well when that packaging changes, switched from bright and bubbly animation to a live-action setting that can’t help but constantly remind viewers of the supposed reality of the situation. And while much of the charm of the original film remains, in director Dean Fleischer Camp’s updated Lilo & Stitch, it’s significantly harder to fully divest ourselves of the pressure of some very earthbound concerns. In short, it’s tough to let go and laugh at the antics of a destructive (but cute!) alien being when lingering worry over the need for health insurance hangs over every wacky and wild interaction like the Sword of Damocles.

Written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, the live-action Lilo & Stitch lightly updates Sanders and DeBois’ original story, including a few neat character evolutions (like casting original voice actor Amy Hill as Tūtū, a new version of her previous character Mrs. Hasagawa, or turning original Nani voice actor Tia Carrere into social worker Mrs. Kekoa) and the very smart choice to allow intergalactic baddies Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) and Agent Pleakley (a perfectly cast Billy Magnussen) to play both their alien and human versions. But its heart remains the same, both a feature and a bug: this is a story about ohana, and about what it really takes to keep a family together. That’s inherently dramatic stuff.

 

A snappy opening takes us through some essential introductions: Stitch (again voiced by original co-director Sanders) is the product of illegal genetic experimentations from the evil Dr. Jookiba who, it seems, was really into the idea of creating a being both silly and smart, adorable and ugly, and totally hellbent on destruction. As the Grand Councilwoman (voiced by Hannah Waddingham) bemoans during a very bad indeed meeting of the United Galactic Federation, Experiment 626 (as he’s known before he hits Earth) is “so naughty.” His punishment for his creation? Exile away from the rest of the civilised federation.

 

626, in all his infernal naughtiness, escapes the feds clutches and zips his way straight to Earth, a protected land that’s been designated as a space for revitalising the mosquito population (one of many good jokes). Until this point, much of 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch” looks a lot like the original, with colourful, animal-inspired aliens pottering around a massive ship. And then, we’re on Earth, and suddenly reminded this is live-action and ostensibly, if not real, at least rooted in some kind of reality.

 

Despite living in the relative idyll of Hawaii, Lilo (spirited newbie Maia Kealoha) has lots of problems: her parents have passed away, her older sister Nani (a wonderful Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) is trying to raise Lilo, there’s never enough money, there’s never enough time, and Lilo is way too plucky and smart to appeal to most other kids her own age. More than anything, Lilo wants a best friend, and it’s a credit to the film that her concerns are treated with just as much gravity as Nani’s, which are much more heavy and worrisome (after all, why do you think they need a social worker?).

 

When 626 crash-lands on Earth, it’s only a matter of time until the infinitely curious Lilo finds him (as in the animated film, their meet-cute takes place at an animal rescue; unlike in the animated film, it’s significantly harder to buy that the cute and fluffy and also blue and bipedal alien is even remotely passable as a dog). Hot on his heels? The mismatched Dr. Jookiba (villainous) and Agent Pleakley (hilarious, obsessed with humans and their fashion in particular).

 

Circling all of them? Courtney B. Vance as CIA operative (sort of) Cobra Bubbles. Ever-inescapable? The very real possibility that Nani is going to have to give up Lilo. And no, the appearance of an insane alien with an appetite for destruction really does not help matters.

However, will they get out of these many pickles? Well, by way of some cute adventures, some incredibly upsetting upheavals, and a generous dash of alien-created technology, used frequently enough to really tickle some of those latent Home Alone memories. Along the way, everyone — one of the true misses of this version is a rush through the charming and totally unexpected family Lilo and Stitch manage to craft through thick and thin, more attention really should have been paid to this modern ohana — learns some valuable lessons, has some fun, and falls deeper in love with the newly-minted Stitch.

 

The heart of this story remains firmly intact, but there’s something about seeing it rendered in live-action that takes away its inherent magic. It’s harder to fall into, much tougher to lose yourself in. Maybe we can never quite recreate the dreaminess of an original story, but there’s something to be said for remembering what it feels like to be caught inside that sort of bubble, and not crash-landed back on Earth.

 

6/10 I am once again pleading for these live-action remakes to stop.

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.