Lilo & Stitch: Another Review

7th June 2025

Lilo & Stitch: Another Review.

Disney’s live-action remakes have garnered a cynical reputation in the film world. For every critically beloved remake like 2016’s The Jungle Book, there is a plethora of straight-to-streaming messes like 2022’s Pinocchio. Even box-office juggernauts like 2019’s The Lion King and 2017’s Beauty & The Beast were met with eye-rolls from a critical community hoping for original stories from the House of Mouse. Yet these were all remakes of time-tested classics; remaking Lilo & Stitch was met with some skepticism, even though the film is more than 20 years old.

And how could a remake possibly recapture or reenvision the beauty of “Ohana,” the core idea that “family means nobody gets left behind.” Enter Dean Fleischer Camp; if any director can get the wholesome, mildly chaotic nature of Lilo & Stitch and the heart of “Ohana,” it’s the director who brought the world Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.

2025’s Lilo & Stitch mostly follows the format and narrative of the original. Lilo (Maia Kealoha) is a young orphan living in Hawaii. She is cared for by her older sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong), who does her best to provide for Lilo but is barely an adult herself.

Lilo, an outcast from kids her age, wishes on a star for something so pure it could melt even the most jaded heart, “a friend.” Lilo’s friend comes in the form of “Stitch,” a hyper-intelligent, ultra-destructive extra-terrestrial hunted by his creator and the alliance of planets. What follows are all the hijinx and Blake Snyder-esque “fun and games” as Lilo, Stitch, and Nani navigate life, aliens, and “Ohana” in a format faithful to the essence of the original but uniquely placed within the present-day box office.

The casting in Lilo & Stitch is as good, if not better, than any Disney live-action casting. Maia Kealoha is incredible as Lilo, shining throughout the comedic chaos of Stitch to the emotional beats playing off Agudong’s Nani. Agudong’s chemistry with Kealoha is apparent in every scene, as she plays Nani with the perfect balance of warmth, frustration, and hope needed to carry a character who sacrifices so much to provide for her little sister. Nani.

Zack Galifianakis as Jumba and Billy Magnessum as Pleakly provide all the wacky hilarity of a 2000s family comedy. A few character changes depart from the original, and a few characters are left out. But all changes made in Lilo & Stitch feel organic to the 2025 story while still maintaining the core themes of the original film.

For all the hangups with prior remakes, Lilo & Stitch hits far more than misses. Stitch as a character looks great, unlike the outdated CGI of 2022’s Pinocchio or the early trailers of Sonic. The soundtrack is like a terrific refresher of the original, still containing a few nods to Elvis, and is sure to keep the “Movie Surfers” generation happy with tracks like “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride.” Action sequences are seamless to the storytelling, and while some may not enjoy some of the character twists, all serve the story of this telling of Stitch’s adventures.

Casting, direction, soundtrack, and style in Lilo & Stitch all fall around the core idea of “Ohana.” Just like in 2002 and now in 2025, “Ohana” is what makes Lilo & Stitch the classic worthy of revisiting. Camp’s retelling of the 2002 classic showcases Nani’s sacrifice, the unbreakable bond of sisters, the love shown to Stitch, and most of all, the message “that family means nobody gets left behind.” The first act has some uneven pacing, Jumba’s character arc will divide some fans, and wacky 2000s family humor is not for everyone.

However, 2025’s Lilo & Stitch grasps the heart of the source material better than any live-action remake in the Disney catalog, sharing a moving, hilarious, and chaotic story of love, acceptance, and most of all, “Ohana.”

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