Lilo & Stitch Review - One of the Best Live Action Remakes.
Yesterday I was able to go to the very first showing of "Lilo & Stitch" at our local theater. I can say that this film is one of the better live-action remakes from Disney. It is not exactly like the original, and the ending is very different, but it's still good. Yeah. Still good.
I will start out with a spoiler-free review, and then I will mention some spoilers after (but I will give you a warning so you can stop reading if you wish.)
Spoiler-Free review of "Lilo & Stitch"
There isn't much to spoil if you know the original film, but some differences do exist. For example, David's grandmother is a major character in the film, and she is a worthy addition.
Lilo and Stitch are mostly the same. I do think Disney toned Lilo down a bit. Stitch has a lot of funny new antics, but Lilo isn't as weird or dark as she was in the original film. The actress who plays her is adorable and the perfect casting choice.
Gantu is not in this film so that changes some things. Cobra Bubbles role isn't the same either. However, we do get the original voice of Nani, Tia Carrera, as the girls' social worker.
Pleakley is fun, and while they do not dress him as a woman with a wig in this film, the luggage he got hold of contains women's and men's clothing, so some of his pieces are more feminine. It's a much more toned-down version of him in that regard.
Overall, it is still the heartfelt family film it always was, but my daughter, who is a huge "Lilo & Stitch" fan said that if the original was an 11 (on a scale of 1-10), this film was about a 7. Now she is biased for sure, but I don't think she's wrong. I would give it a bit higher at a 7.5. I would have given it about a point higher except for one thing that I will mention in the spoiler filled review part.
Kids will love this movie. Families will love this movie. "Lilo & Stitch" fans will probably like this movie. If you see any live-action remake in the theater instead of waiting for Disney+, this is the one.
Going into Spoiler territory now.
Spoilers incoming.
Turn back now if you don't want spoilers.
I'm going to do it for real now.
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Spoiler-filled review of "Lilo & Stitch"
If you made it this far, you want to be spoiled, so here it is.
Right off the bat, Jumba is not Jumba. His voice is not Jumba's, and the CGI is off-putting. This is why I am giving it a whole point less than I would have. I could not get past this. Every time he opened his mouth, it was annoying. He is the villain. They combined Jumba and Gantu's roles in the end of the film into one character.
When Jumba is human, it's not so bad, but every time he's CGI it doesn't work. This begins within the first minute of the film, and it takes you out of it right away. Casual fans will likely not care, but big fans might.
Lilo is great, but she is missing her darkness and edge. She's more of a precocious kid than a child suffering from losing her parents. But still adorable and works.
Stitch works very well in live-action. Whatever they go wrong with Jumba, they got right with Stitch. He has more funny antics in this one than in the original.
New scenes have been added.
There is a wedding that Stitch crashes not long after he ends up on Earth. He wants the wedding cake and hilariously gets it. This leads to him getting hit by a tourist bus.
David's Grandmother is now a major character, and she takes Lilo and lets her adopt Stitch.
There is a portal gun used repeatedly in this film. It causes a Portal-esque scene (yes, like the game) where Jumba just keeps falling from the ceiling through the floor in a loop.
Tia Carerra is now the social worker, and she is in the film more than Cobra Bubbles. Cobra Bubbles has been toned down a lot and is just a CIA agent who agrees to help them and keep Stitch's existence a secret.
Lilo goes to the ER after she goes under in the surfing scene. Lack of insurance is part of the reason Nani is going to agree to let her be taken into the system.
Nani now has more characterization. She gave up surfing and a full scholarship to take care of Lilo.
The biggest change comes at the end of the film. The ending is completely different from the original.
Jumba attacks the house to get Stitch, and Lilo stands up to him. Stitch gives up to protect Lilo, and right before the roof collapses, she sneaks onto the ship.
Lilo lets Stitch out of containment and Jumba gets sucked out. They crash into the water, and Stitch surfaces on a part of the ship while Lilo is trapped under a piece of metal underwater. Stitch jumps in to save her and gets her out. She can't lift him and surfaces. Nani and David get her, and then Nani goes back and saves Stitch using her surfing training to run across the bottom of the ocean until she can reach the shallows.
Stitch isn't breathing, so they use jumper cables to restart his heart. Then the Grand Council Woman arrives to take Stitch, but Cobra Bubbles agrees to make sure he keeps an eye on them, and she lets him be exiled to Earth.
Nani goes to college, and Lilo goes to live with David and his Grandma. Pleakley stays with them to monitor from the alien side. Cobra Bubbles is there to monitor on the Earth side.
Nani uses the portal gun to come to Lilo’s room so she can see her.
That’s it.
It is a cute film that families will enjoy. My biggest issue was Jumba. Had they gotten the character and voice right, I would have given it a point higher.
7.5/10