Lilo & Stitch (Fleischer Camp, 2025)

A Live-Action Remake That Struggles to Capture the Magic

This Lilo & Stitch live-action remake tries to recapture the magic of its predecessor, but it falls short of the original’s heart and soul.

Lilo & Stitch (2025) is a live-action remake of the beloved 2002 animated classic — a movie that has held a special place in my heart since childhood. What makes Lilo & Stitch (2002) so unforgettable is its tender, heartfelt exploration of family — messy, imperfect, chosen, and fractured, but always bound by love and the promise that ohana means nobody gets left behind. Lilo and Stitch are both outcasts — a lonely girl grappling with grief and a chaotic alien experiment searching for identity. Together, they find connection, understanding, and belonging. The movie beautifully celebrates difference, acceptance, and unconditional love in a way that feels both genuine and timeless.

Just like in the original, Lilo & Stitch (2025) follows young Lilo (Maia Kealoha) and her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) as they try to navigate life after the loss of their parents. But how do you care for a child when you’re still barely more than one yourself — and grieving, too? When Lilo adopts Stitch (voiced again by Chris Sanders), a genetically engineered alien fugitive who has just escaped exile from planet Turo, their unlikely bond begins to take shape. Despite his destructive instincts, Stitch finds connection and comfort with Lilo, discovering a sense of belonging he’s never known. Meanwhile, Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) are sent to Earth to retrieve him, but what begins as a mission to capture Experiment 626 slowly becomes something much more complicated as loyalty, love, and the true meaning of family come into focus.

When the live-action remake was announced, I was both excited and skeptical. I’ve never quite understood why every animated classic needs a live-action remake, as if animation wasn’t enough to tell a powerful story or lacked some kind of “prestige.” Still, curiosity got the better of me, and I held onto hope (despite the negative critics the movie has received), mostly because of how deeply I love the original. But unfortunately, that love might have worked against me. While the remake has moments of tenderness (I shed a tear or two, mostly out of nostalgia), something about it felt emotionally flat. At times, it seemed like the cast was simply reciting lines from a more meaningful movie, rather than tapping into its emotional core. The sincerity and raw feeling that made the original so special just didn’t come through, and I feel like the animated characters carried far more emotional weight than their live-action counterparts.

Several changes and omissions from the original left me genuinely confused. What happened to Gantu? And why is Jumba suddenly portrayed as the main villain? Another odd choice is how the live-action Lilo & Stitch immediately reveals that Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) is a CIA agent. In the original, part of what made him so memorable — and funny — was the way he initially came across as just a stern, intimidating social worker, leaving you curious about his backstory, before eventually revealing there was more to him. That gradual reveal gave the character a unique mix of mystery, authority, and dry humor. The remake flattens that dynamic, and Vance’s performance doesn’t capture the same presence. On top of that, many of the original’s most memorable and charming moments were cut; the dryer scene, Stitch playing with Nani’s clothes, the hilarious bit where Stitch channels Elvis (Lilo’s favorite singer) and performs on the beach to impress the ladies or even the destruction of "San Fransisco" (the scene in the pink car would've make more sense). Which, to be honest, made me quite sad.

While the movie starts promisingly, closely mirroring the animated opening (which I appreciated), things begin to unravel once we arrive in Hawaii. New characters and subplots are introduced but ultimately feel unnecessary or underdeveloped (Amy Hill, thankfully, was a standout and a joy to watch). Aside from Stitch himself, many of the animated characters didn’t quite work in live-action form — caught somewhere between cartoonish and realistic, they lost much of their charm. And the choice to make Jumba and Pleakley appear more human to blend in also strips away much of the quirky oddness that made their characters so funny. 

On a positive note, I loved the little nods to the original, like Chris Sanders reprising his role as the voice of Stitch and Tia Carrere making a lovely cameo (she voiced Nani in the 2002 movie). Maia Kealoha was truly incredible as Lilo; she brought so much heart and authenticity to the role. If anything, I only wish the movie had let her lean more into Lilo’s signature sass — that bold, quirky spark that made the original character one of the best parts of the 2002 movie.

In the end, while this Lilo & Stitch live-action remake tries to recapture the magic of its predecessor, it falls short of the original’s heart and soul. The 2002 movie remains a timeless classic, and unfortunately, this live-action version doesn’t quite live up to that legacy.

Lilo & Stitch is now playing in theatres.