The latest in Disney’s efforts to remake their animated classics, Lilo & Stitch adapts the 2002 film of the same name to varying levels of success. According to the first reviews of this live-action reimagining, the Stitch character remains a delightful favorite, while it often seems like an unnecessary cash-grab catering to nostalgia for the original. Setting the story in the real world makes it more grounded, though, and therefore more emotionally effective.
Here’s what critics are saying about Lilo & Stitch:
Lilo & Stitch is one of the year’s biggest surprises… the family event of the summer.
The new take on the classic Disney movie is the kind of summer adventure kids and adults will be happy to sink their teeth into.
The script’s emphasis on empathy, emotional depth, and the importance of Ohana elevate the film into the upper tier of Disney’s live-action remakes.
One of the best remakes in the company’s contemporary canon.
Lilo & Stitch is one of the stronger results of Disney’s non-stop remake campaign.
Only some disjointed plotting and an occasionally clunky third act keep it from being the best Disney live-action adaptation yet.
This one? Surprisingly less cynical than most.
As messy as Snow White was, it at least had a vision unique from its source material.
The 2025 Lilo & Stitch… does what matters most: It stays true to the spirit of the original 2002 movie.
Lilo & Stitch feels like a real movie made by real humans who, get this, actually like the original.
The live-action Lilo & Stitch is faithful enough to the original to please traditionalists and tweaked enough to feel somewhat fresh.
It reminded me why I’ve loved the 2002 modern classic since I was a kid, and through many phases of my life, and also offered a new perspective to the story I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise if it hadn’t been made.
The animated film’s frenetic energy is intact, with just enough fresh touches to stand on its own. It beautifully captures the spirit of Ohana.
The remake adopts the frenetic, energized pacing typically found in animation, but here, that’s achieved via rapid, unintelligible editing.
No matter how well-intentioned it may be, the original animated film’s charm and personality are ultimately lost.
Once the film moves past its opening sequence, it becomes clear that the source material has been given a new spark… It’s got its own sense of identity.
It doesn’t try to replace the original, it tries to complement it.
It’s practically a carbon copy of the delightful animated original, but with most of the charm and beauty missing.
(Photo by ©Disney)
Nani and Stitch’s relationship is very much grounded in reality.
As adorable as the animated Lilo was, there remains a real spark to seeing two relatable actors connect with each other on screen.
The live-action version shifts its emotional center way more toward Nani this time around, transforming her from an overworked side character to co-lead in what often feels like a Hawaiian-flavored Lady Bird.
There is a benefit to seeing this story play out in live action because seeing the unmistakable youth in Nani’s face really hammers home that she’s practically a child herself.
Lilo & Stitch invests heavily in its live-action settings and storytelling, allowing us to see ourselves in the narrative.
Filming this story in our real world organically raises the stakes on the human storyline. This has the unfortunate side effect of making Stitch’s rascally antics less adorable and more frustrating.
One of the most pleasant changes comes with the inclusion of characters invented for Tia Carrere and Amy Hill… Both women add a refreshing sense of community that was lacking in the original film, and feed into the strongest aspect of this new story.
Lilo & Stitch tightens the story and sharpens its focus, getting rid of some of the glaring structural issues with the first film.
New sequences are prone to misinterpretation as extra padding, but actually serve a good purpose deepening the character dynamics (like Mrs. Kekoa giving Nani 3 to-dos) and wild comedic absurdity (like Stitch smashing champagne flutes) or propelling the action (like Jumba’s never-ending portal).
The VFX is surprisingly strong. Compared to recent Disney live-action adaptations, Lili & Stitch is easily one of the best-looking of the bunch.
Compared to the blank faces of the lions in Jon Favreau’s The Lion King, the CGI Stitch is a massive improvement.
Stitch doesn’t exactly look bad, but there’s a plasticky sheen to him that makes him feel more like an Etsy plushie than a living, breathing character.
The visual effects only add to the disorder. Though they’re as good as it gets for Disney, it’s hard to believe that our human characters are actually interacting with a goo-goo eyed blur of blue fur.
The overall look of the movie just doesn’t capture the beauty and scale of the original in a way that feels satisfying or helps it stand out.
As has come to be depressingly expected from the blockbusters of today, the color palette is muted and dull, captured with an uncreative camera that’s more concerned with merely putting things in the frame rather than constructing visually striking moments.
This version of Nani and Lilo’s relationship is far closer to reality, which makes the heartstring-pulling snap back with even more intensity.
The force of that beating heart is even stronger here.
The result is a more emotionally satisfying conclusion than its animated predecessor.
Yeah, it made me cry… taking the emotional core of the original and amplifying it in a stirring manner.
This time, that same story is more constructed than meaningfully felt. The film struggles to let scenes breathe, bludgeons us too frequently with music cues, and skips out on crucial emotional beats to replace them with less effective melodrama.
(Photo by ©Disney)
The film does moving and spirited work in showcasing how crucial it is for us to lift each other up, even when it feels like a cage is all we deserve.
The new Lilo & Stitch’s best changes only highlight the central message of “Ohana” throughout, and that makes it worth the ride.
There’s no denying that the film tries to cater to both children and adults, which occasionally results in tonal inconsistencies.
For adults, a little of the visual chaos will go a long way, with Lilo, cute as he is, not exactly E.T. in terms of appeal.
The jokes land more than they don’t.
Where the humor with Lilo and Stitch almost always works, the wacky hijinks with Jumba and Pleakley are more hit and miss.
There’s plenty of madcap comedy here, and more of it hits than misses.
Thankfully, the actors portraying the sisters work well as a pair… Maia Kealoha is an adorable Lilo.
Kealoha, in particular, delivers a star-making performance, one of those rare turns where you just know, and with Kealoha, you know.
It’s the adorable Kealoha who steals the show as Lilo. It can’t be easy to have chemistry with an alien who will be added in post-production. However, Kealoha is enchanting.
Disney proves once again why they are the gold standard in finding children who will grow up to be superstars with Maia Kealoha. This little girl is giving her absolute all in this movie… Her energy is infectious.
Maia Kealoha… [is] an unfortunate case of miscasting, alas, since a character who should be nearly as frenetic as Stitch is embodied by a Little Miss Perfect type instead.
Agudong brings the heat, the exhaustion, and the earnestness, and the film is (overall) stronger for it.
Zach Galifianakis gives the film’s worst performance due to a supreme lack of effort. Alien form or not, Galifianakis offers nothing to his Jumba. This is especially disappointing as Jumba takes the main antagonist role in this remake away from an absent Gantu.
People love that throaty-voiced, blue, koala-dog alien, and unlike the seven nightmarish dwarfs magical creatures, he translates perfectly into realistic CGI.
Stitch translates surprisingly well to live-action.
Chris Sanders’s performance as Stitch is an utter delight. Channeling the same comedic and frenetic energy of the original, Sanders’ voice work serves as a vivid reminder as to why Stitch is one of Disney’s most beloved characters.
Stitch gets less screentime than you might expect.
Audiences might come out of this Lilo & Stitch feeling like the destructive alien has been a bit overshadowed by its human characters. There’s a few less gags for 626 to be part of in order to lean into the more realistic elements.
Lilo & Stitch opens in theaters on May 23, 2025.
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