I have these rules for remakes, the first one being that it may be better to remake a movie that isn’t an all-time classic. Disney has, of late, been making many live-action remakes of their old animated movies, and a number of those animated movies are considered classics for a very good reason. But what about 2002’s Lilo & Stitch? I’ve never seen that one, but it while I am sure it has its fans, it doesn’t seem to have the same status as, say, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or The Little Mermaid, and Disney already remade those to, at best, questionable results. But Lilo & Stitch actually could be remade under my own rules, or at least the first one about not remaking a classic.
Besides, my girlfriend wanted to see this one, and we needed something better after Love Hurts.
The United Galactic Federation has a problem: scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) has create a nearly indestructible biological experiment, 626 (voice of Chris Sanders). Rude, destructive, and much smarter than it looks, 626 manages to escape and runs off to Earth, a planet that would be a fine place to send the thing since it’s mostly water, and 626 would drown due to its unique physiology making it impossible to swim. But then it becomes clear 626 would land on an island, so Jumba and Earth-specialist Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) are sent to Earth to find 626 and bring him back before he wrecks the place.
Meanwhile, six-year old Lilo (Maia Kealoha) is an orphan living in Hawaii under the guardianship of her hassled older sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong). With social services looking a little too closely at their strained circumstances, there’s not much the friendless Lilo has going for her until she finds this weird-looking creature at the animal shelter. Yes, it’s 626, whom Lilo renames as “Stitch.” With both Jumba and Pleakley on one side and CIA agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) on the other looking for Stitch while Nani just tries to hold the family together in ways she may not be even remotely prepared for, it’s going to be a bit of mess, but at least Lilo and Stitch have each other. You know, so long as no one drives them apart.
As I said, I hadn’t seen the original version of this movie, but my girlfriend has, and she assured me that it wasn’t a scene-for-scene remake. I have seen that this one may be one of the more controversial remakes as critical reaction is mixed, with some of the usual pans from some critics that could apply to any, but I actually liked this one. Oh, it’s not the greatest movie ever, but it was entertaining in a kid-friendly way, integrate the CGI Stitch into the movie rather well, and never had the unnecessary feel of most Disney remakes.
Now, it’s not perfect. The comedic timing is a bit too fast paced in the early scenes set entirely in the Federation ships, and while I think the movie turned out fun, I am not sure how entirely memorable it will be in the future. But for what we were looking for, we basically got it. It’s fun, has some good humor for adults and especially kids, and is the sort of remake Disney should consider doing more often. Oh, the company won’t, but if the bomb that was Snow White can keep the company from remaking their classics, then maybe some more low-stakes recreations like Lilo & Stitch can see the light of day.
Grade: B
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