Ticketworthy! - Lilo and Stitch

For the sake of ripping off the bandage and removing the mystery, let’s go ahead and answer the important question; no, the live-action Lilo and Stitch is not as good as the animated classic. There’s entirely too much in it that just doesn’t work, and several of the changes made are just notably worse than what the original did with the same setting and characters. If you judge this film against its predecessor, you’re going to find plenty of reasons not to enjoy it. However, if you can separate the two, this version still gets an awful lot right.

Most notably, Maia Kealoha is an absolute homerun as Lilo. Child actors are usually a mixed bag, and this movie is asking its young star to shoulder a lot of responsibility for its emotional depth. While the story still follows the alien experiment Stitch (Chris Sanders) and his attempt to escape the other aliens trying to catch him, there’s a ton of focus put on Lilo, her emotional state, and the relationships she has with both Stitch and her sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong). Nobody would have blamed Kealoha had her performance been simply okay. Instead, she’s engaging, emotional, and often hilarious. She carries the movie incredibly well.

In truth, most of the cast do a great job. Agudong is compelling, and the character of Nani has a new layer of depth to her that is just really interesting to see. It’s a fantastic performance. I also think that Billy Magnussen is really good as Pleakley, the alien agent hunting Stitch. Magnussen is a really underrated actor, it’s nice to see him getting a chance to shine.

The same cannot be said for his partner in this movie, Zach Galifianakis as the mad scientist Jumba. I’m not sure how much of the problem is Galifianikis’ performance and how much is Jumba just being a terrible character and villain, but it’s easily my least favorite thing about the film. In theory, matching such a comedic actor with an overtly silly character like Jumba ought to have been a no-brainer, but for some reason both the script and the actor treat the character with a seriousness that never makes any sense.

Ultimately, it’s in areas like that where the problems with Lilo and Stitch lie. The characters and plots that aren’t directly about Lilo, Stitch, and Nani are underwhelming at best and distracting at worst. In particular, it feels like almost everything involving the aliens is just tacked on to what is an otherwise good movie. Every time the three leads are on screen and spending time together, it’s moving and fun, and thankfully director Dean Fleischer Camp had the good sense to make that the majority of the movie. It’s a shame that the other plots drag the whole thing down so much.

Still, enough is done right to make a shockingly enjoyable movie. Most of the comedic charm of the original is still in place, and Hawaii still serves as a beautiful setting that injects the whole movie with vibrant colors. While the subplots leave a lot to be desired, the heart of the film is very much the family dynamic between its main characters, and that’s done so well that the rest of the movie can be forgiven for its flaws. Lilo and Stitch is, to quote its titular alien, “broken, but still good. Yeah, still good.”