A Review of Lilo & Stitch (2025) - The People And I Saw A Reimagined Movie
It was everything I thought it was going to be.
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I didn't know what to do yesterday, so after filming some new Fenix News, I decided to return to the cinema and bless this world with another review. I was unsure if I should choose between Tom Cruise in his last Mission: Impossible film or watch the movie that The Weeknd was in that everyone seemed to hate. Instead, I made a third choice and bought a ticket for Lilo & Stitch (2025).
I was kind of excited to see that blue devil, Stitch, running around in various commercials. He looked like he was in 3 dimensions, so I assumed Disney was doing that reinforcement of copyright (they call it a “reimagining”) on their existing animated films by making live versions of the same films.
I remember being in the theater when the first animated Lilo & Stitch came out in 2002. That movie was fun and science fiction-y, and made Lilo my favorite “Disney princess” because of it. On top of that, her sister/caretaker was a thick surfer lady, and who doesn’t like to see that? I don't know what it was that made me think this would be a sequel to the original movie, but my assumptions were proven wrong as I saw the full trailer for the first time.
Lilo & Stitch (2025) was going to be the same as Lilo & Stitch (2002).
That left me terribly uninterested in this film. I've avoided most Disney remakes because one time in Cambodia, I went to see Beauty and the Beast (2017) with a woman who was very intense about her love of the movie. We went to a special premiere event for this thing. We had to get dressed up for it. I had to borrow clothes to get the right look, because what expat brings a suit with him to Cambodia? Beauty and the Beast (2017) made 1.2 billion dollars, and I did not like this live-action version at all. Like Peter Griffin said about The Godfather, Beauty and the Beast (2017)... "insists upon itself."
After that, I put all of Disney's live-action remakes in a do-not-touch pile in my mind. No Aladdins, Little Mermaids, or Snow Whites for me. Still... there was just enough affection in the tank to choose to see Lilo & Stitch (2025) ...again. I was snooty about this even after the movie started.
ON ONE HAND...
It was me, 50 babies, 30 overworked parents, and 10 teens in the theater to watch Lilo & Stitch (2025). This movie is a "second verse, same as the first" sort of film. We've got a pair of orphaned Hawaiian girls named Lilo (Maia Kealoha) and Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) struggling to make it work now that their parents' uhane (spirit) have left this mortal plane. It's so hard out there for these two. Nani has to work to pay for things, while Lilo acts out because of it. Lilo is out there freeing chickens and pushing bullies at hula practice while Nani is getting stuck at work because her truck won't start. It's so bad, they're getting hit up by a local social worker named Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere) who might have to split them up.
Meanwhile, on the planet Turo in SPACE, alien scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) has created new life in the form of a blue, six-armed being called Project 626 a.k.a. Stitch (Chris Sanders) that the Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham) feels needs to be destroyed. Stitch is too smart for that, so he escapes and accidentally heads to a planet called Eaahrth (Earth). The councilwoman wants to blow up Earth, but can't cause it's space endangered, blah blah blah, Jumba is forced to recapture his experiment under space’s “best” Earth scientist Pleakly (Billy Magnussen) to recapture Stitch so he can be destroyed. Then, CIA agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) shows up.
That is also the plot of the first movie. Of course, this being a Disney flick, you likely have an idea of where this is going.
ON THE OTHER HAND...
I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this. I liked this plot in 2002, and I liked seeing it again in 2025. I haven't rewatched the first Lilo & Stitch, but I loved that movie the most out of all the Disney movies I've seen. I like science fiction, I like space, and I even like monsters that are built to destroy. This is my thing.
What I didn't know I liked were stories about kids that don't fit in, how to deal with loneliness, and the difficulty in raising your ohana (family) when your parents are gone. These were new things I found out about myself in 2002. That is why Lilo became my favorite "Disney Princess.” It's because Lilo isn't considered one, unlike Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. After all, New Orleans doesn’t have princesses. Maybe it's because Lilo, being six or seven, isn't old enough to take the title, or maybe Lilo is just too weird to be on that list.
ON THE OTHER OTHER HAND...
Just like in 2002, I spent the last 10 minutes out of 90 with tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe it. Lilo & Stitch from two different eras was practically the same movie, but I don’t feel so bad about it after watching it. I’m not sure if it’s the story, the filmmaking, or my personal history of loneliness and not fitting in, but Lilo & Stitch hits me every time. I know that "not fitting in" feeling very well.
Maia Kealoha is adorable. Despite being seven or eight in this film, she's a great actress, especially if she’s acting across a green screen. It's fun to see her run around and do Lilo things on the island, especially after Stitch gets there. Sydney Agudong is an excellent Nani and plays the teen girl giving up college to stay home to take care of her much younger sister after their parents die like a champion. Galifianakis is Galifianakis, and it's fun to see him beef with Magnussen over how they're going to find "Project 626" on a planet they've never been to. It's also wonderful to see Tia Carrere, Wayne's girlfriend from Wayne’s World, now older and more knowledgeable.
I didn't want to admit it, but I really liked this movie.
If you're older and enjoyed it the first time, you won't be disappointed going to this one. If you’re older and haven’t seen it, this one might be worth going to, especially if you’re good with Disney.
If you're a teenager and have never been exposed to Lilo & Stitch before. You'll learn all you need to know from this reimagining, and you don’t need to go back in time to watch the first one.
If you're still a kid, bother your parents until they take you. You're the ones they made this for. Kids in this thing were laughing at stuff I grew out of a long time ago. It was fun to watch them have fun, so take your family to see it. It'll be just like my Dad taking me and my older brother to see Terminator 2 in a theater, before we got lost in a mall. What a great night.