Dear, warm -hearted, and safe

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and I cry over an experiment 626 embrace his new life as a stitch. And this assurance will ensure that Disney will have to build a new vault to store all the money they are about to make off their live re-operation of “Lilo & Stitch.” After the performance of the poor box office from the Plagued-with-Delotic Adjustment of “Snow White,” Disney needed victory. Do not make any mistake, they are going to win a lot, and it has nothing to do with whether their latest live-active venture is “good.” People love that foreign neck, blue, alien koala-dog, and different the seven nightmare dwarf enchanting creaturesIt converts perfectly to a realistic CGI.

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This live-active version is actually the sixth movie in the franchiseIn addition to both seasons of the popular animated series. This is also the second best film in the franchise, tragically forced to live in the shadows of the pretty close-to-perfect film forever. Fortunately, this new “lilo & stitch” is not trying to compete with its source material, and boldly refocusing the emotional turbs in a new direction. Unfortunately, he suffers from the same over-explanation of ham-fisted, unnaturally present, and a lack of tone storytelling at the moment who plagues everything that studio executives know is watched non-stop by people who half pay attention once he hits a streaming service.

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“Lilo & Stitch” banks on our love and worship of the original and the hypnotic power of seeing a stitch look like a tangible creature, and on the whole, it works. But no matter how cute a stitch and no matter how impressive Maia Kealoha’s innovative performance is like a lilo, it’s a film that plays it safely and winds up softening the edges that made the original film so special.

When the title character is six years old, it is not an easy task to find a child who can carry a whole film convincingly when operating opposite a computer creature, but Disney proves once again why they are the gold standard in finding children who will grow up to become supermarkets with Maia Kealoha. This little girl gives her everything completely in this film, as is evident by the full bulky cry, a snot-tomb that she achieves towards the end of the film. Her energy is contagious, and she obviously has the time of her life, but I can’t help but want her to get the same material to work with that original voice actor, Deeigh Chase, given 23 years ago.

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This version of Lilo is dear, hypocritical, and certainly wise beyond their years, but the script does not let it be truly odball which is very obvious struggling with the loss of her parents. Only Kid Latchkey Kid stuff is just anything “strange” about lilo, such as hyper-independence, overactive imagination, and the ability to hold court when surrounded by adults. But she’s not wondrous. When she asks her sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) whether she is “bad,” she doesn’t hit so hard because we haven’t seen a lilo actually doing anything that could be considered that way.

Mertle’s bully and her friends are even sanded down, their cruelty feels like the antics of a mean girl running the mill rather than the deep layered competition that came before. I get it, Disney does not want children to emulate the behavior they see on screen, so Lilo is only pushing off the stage after their hula performance after it deliberately lilo to the ground (instead of deliberately beating the brakes), but the lack of intentionality behind it has a rippling effect of cheapening lilo.

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But when Lilo finally meets Stitch? Kealoha takes the wheel of the entire damning film and never lets go.

While Stitch is painfully dear running around in live action, Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) and Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) look a little nightmare. Back in space, they fit properly with the other “Star Wars” fish alien (I especially like the new alien inspired by Sociopathic axolotl), but the wise film gives them the technology to transform into human beings. While I was still very disappointed that Pleakley did not turn into a one-eye alien dragging (Director Dean Fleischer tried a camp, y’all), I’m glad it means we got Billy Magnussen wearing fertile small outfits, including a crocheted mesh shirt with a huge flower on it. Magnussen fully commits to the flame physical comedy that the character asks for, and I think that Kevin McDonald would be proud of how his character has evolved.

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As for Jumba Galifianakis … Let’s say it’s part of one of the biggest changes to the source material, and it doesn’t work. At all. It is arguably the largest step in the whole film, except to avoid criticizing the tourism industry completely in Hawai’i. Those Aulani destination orders will not sell themselves!

Fortunately, one of the most desirable changes are involved in including characters invented for Tia Carrere and Amy Hill, who provided both voices in the original film. Carrere is the social worker devoted to the Nanny and Lilo case before the agent of Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) seems to work indoors to secretly research a stitch, and has the difficult work of basing the film with the harsh reality of the guardianship of brothers and sisters. Hill plays the role of Tūtū, the grandmother of Himbo David (Kaipo Dudit) and Nani’s biggest support system in raising his little sister. Both women add a refreshing sense of a community that lacked the original film, and fed into the strongest attitude of this new story.

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The core theme of “Lilo & Stitch” in all its forms has always been in its most memorable line, “Ohana means that family and family mean that no one is left behind or forgotten.” Even through some clunky packing issues, this mantra radiates throughout the film. There is a stronger focus on the relationship of Lilo and Nanny – their undeniable bond and their heartbreaking tensions. The two sisters have suffered an unpleasant tragedy, and now Nani has to sacrifice any hopes she had for her own future to look after her little sister. I’m not going to rust into the discourse around Casting Agudong as a fit actress, light skin because my white bin has no place in that conversation, but I say that there is a benefit of seeing this story play out in live action because of seeing the unmistakable youth in the face of nanny Really Hammers home she was almost a child herself. These moments are also where director Dean Fleischer actually shines, gaining The quiet, moving power displayed in “Marcel The Shell with shoes on.” This version of Nani and Lilo’s relationship is much closer to reality, which makes the snap withdraw back with even more intensity. In a cute while re -cleaning sanitation, the bond of these sisters is the one thing that cannot be broken.

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I was 12 when the animated version of “Lilo & Stitch” hit theaters first, and that summer, I would have confidently taken a bullet for the little chaos gremlin. Now, I’m almost 35, and I’m comfortable admit that I’m still feeling the same way. Even in a perfectly “fine” movie, all you need is Chris Sanders’ strange voice wandering out “family” and Disney’s Got Me Hook, Line, and Sinker. Or in this case, ready to rock friendship bracelet made out of junk attracting fishing.

Film score: 6.5 out of 10

“Lilo & Stitch” arrives at theaters on May 23, 2025.