Lilo & Stitch

Lilo and Stitch is a live-action remake of the 2002 animated film of the same name, and that carries certain expectations. Disney has been churning these out in droves since 2010 and so far, the very best remains David Lowery’s Pete’s Dragon, based on the infinitely inferior 1977 live-action-animated mashup. All this is to say, Lilo and Stitch is not among the very best nor the very worst of the bunch. Having not seen the original film, this reviewer can only tell you about this film. What we have is something which begins well enough, and ends well enough but nearly breaks in the middle. For a story about a genetically engineered weapon of destruction tracked by its creator and an intergalactic operative, looking to stop their government from destroying Earth in order to keep the weapon — Stitch — from potentially harming the rest of the universe, the film often loses sight of the stakes.

Courtesy Walt Disney Studios

Lowery’s film managed to take a silly film that was borderline stupid and infuse it with intelligence, tenderness, empathy and a love of the magic of movies. Lilo and Stitch, however well intentioned, often seems to forget what it wants to be. Is it a zany slapstick with a central character that is like a demented interstellar version of Gizmo, from Gremlins? Or, is it a film about family and what that means? Can it be both? The answer is, it tries to be both and does not fully succeed at anything.

Unlike Moana, or Coco we do not get to know much about this family other than they are of native origin and their parents died. In those earlier  films, we got to meet our characters and get a sense for who and how they were, before launching into the story proper. Here, we have none of that. It all feels rushed. Because of this, the film struggles to earn what should be a wonderful series of moments about family and tradition, and it is a shame that this is the case. The elements could have worked with more time devoted to character and story, and less to slapstick and outside complications. The film does not fully earn the tradition upon which it pulls, suffering mightily.

Take, for example, the neighbors, David and Mrs. Tutu, or the social worker, Mrs. Kekoa, the latter two of which are played by actors who appeared in the original film. Kekoa begins talking to Lilo’s sister, Nani, about how the girl might be taken away and how this connects to their culture. Yet, it never delves more than skin deep. Yes, this is a family film but that does not mean, and in fact, perhaps should not mean, that discussions about family and culture should be thinner than a candy wrapper. When Tutu does similar, it does not feel earned, either, because she is not set up well prior to her first appearance in the role of sage elder.

Courtesy Walt Disney Studios

It also does not help that Lilo comes across less like a hurt and scared child who has been bullied-though she obviously is that — as much as she does a very abrasive and destructive one with a lack of awareness. When she begins to show a deeper side, it creates some whiplash given what we have seen. Yes, she fed a fish a sandwich, but that is not enough to establish her as having layers. Nor is her sister, a put-upon waitress, seen gazing longingly at a brochure from a college she wishes to attend, anything more than a cliché of “I have responsibilities that I am struggling to fulfill.”

This is not helped by a script that relies too heavily on the aforementioned unimaginative slapstick and jokes that have no real punchline. The two aliens tracking Stitch work far better in “alien” form than in human, with an extremely bored Zack Galifianakis one-lining his way through a preponderance of annoyed put-downs. Add in the CIA operative, Cobra, played by Courtney B. Vance, and you have three characters who are meant to be central to the story and yet seem anything but. At the same time, the film would have no dramatic tension without them, with what exists never seeming enough of a threat for one to truly invest.

Courtesy Walt Disney Studios

Indeed, the film begins almost brilliantly, with the story of how Stitch comes to Earth, and then, jarringly, shifts to Lilo and what she is up to with her sister. When we next see what is happening with Stitch’s story, it becomes one nearly unbearable knockabout sequence after another for at least a half hour of run time. During which, little to no plot or character development occurs. In fact, this reviewer began to resent everything about the film, and wished that they had just made a new animated film about Stitch on the run from the intergalactic overlords. The film tries to manipulate you into caring about the humans, and shows Stitch in such a harsh light for far too long, that you may begin to resent him, as well. The result is a film that then takes nearly another half hour to right itself and still wobbles because it has not earned most of what it presents. Despite all this, there are some very sweet moments, but the muddled and thin character development greatly harms what could have been a charming and meaningful family film.

Lilo & Stitch is now playing in theaters.