Lilo & Stitch (2025)
Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp
★★★★
“Ohana” still means everything, and this remake proves it.
Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch, directed by Dean Fleischer Camp and written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, walks a delicate line between honoring the 2002 animated classic and carving its own deeply human path. The result is a vibrant, surprisingly intimate film that feels lived-in and warm, even with the expected big-budget polish and alien chaos.
The story remains familiar: a lonely Hawaiian girl named Lilo forms an unlikely bond with Stitch, a fugitive alien with a destructive streak. But this version grounds the fantastical with emotional realism. Newcomer Maia Kealoha shines as Lilo — a role that could’ve easily felt forced or overly precocious, but she brings a rawness and honesty that pulls you in from her first scene. Sydney Agudong, playing older sister Nani, captures the weight of young adulthood, responsibility, and grief with grace and natural charisma.
What sets this remake apart isn’t just its performances, though they’re strong across the board. It’s the care and authenticity in its setting. The Hawaiian culture isn’t just a postcard backdrop. It’s baked into the rhythm of the characters’ lives, into the local faces around them, and into the subtle shifts in how community, family, and tradition are portrayed. The emotional core is very much intact — if anything, it feels deeper.
Changes to the original story are noticeable but mostly effective. One entire character from the animated film has been removed, and while that choice may frustrate some fans, the narrative feels no less complete. If anything, it tightens the focus and places greater weight on the bond between the sisters and their alien “companion.” Some roles, like Stitch’s galactic pursuers, are updated to be more grounded or consolidated, but these shifts serve the tone and pacing well.
Stitch, voiced once again by Chris Sanders, is rendered through impressive CG that doesn’t distract from the film’s humanity. He’s as weird, violent, and lovable as ever, but used a bit more sparingly here, allowing for greater buildup in his emotional connection with Lilo. When their bond clicks, it hits with surprising force — a reminder that this is, at its heart, a story about two broken things finding healing through each other.
The film smartly doesn’t try to replicate the cartoon’s zany energy beat-for-beat. This is a more contemplative, grounded take. Some viewers may find the pacing slower, but that slowness gives space for quieter, more meaningful character beats. You feel Nani’s exhaustion. You feel Lilo’s isolation. You feel the weight of trying to hold a family together with duct tape and desperation.
This Lilo & Stitch isn’t trying to outdo the original. It’s trying to honor it while reinterpreting its meaning through a more culturally rooted, emotionally honest lens. It succeeds. With a powerful message about chosen family, resilience, and love that transcends species or origin, the film stands on its own — a heartfelt companion to the original, not a replacement.
Disney live-action remakes are often hit or miss, but this one is a genuine surprise. It may change some pieces, but the soul remains. And in the end, Lilo & Stitch proves once again that family — especially the messy, imperfect kind — is worth fighting for.
