Lilo & Stitch 2025: He’s still so cute and fluffy, so the remake largely works

The first thing to know is that you cannot improve on perfection.

So, as long as you can accept that any live-action remake cannot beat the unimpeachable 2002 animated Lilo & Stitch, then you’re off to a good start. All you can hope for is that an updated version will capture the chaotic but tender spirit of its predecessor.

For the most part, this does.

For those of us born before the release of the original, 23 years doesn’t seem like a long time (although it is nearly a quarter of a century, so you know), it may be that this remake feels premature, but if you’ve walked into any Disney store, you’d understand that Stitch merch is everywhere.

It’s a popular and lucrative character and an adorable CGI version of the little blue alien will surely supercharge Disney’s consumer products division. Every kid is going to want a Stitch plushie, a Stitch backpack and a selection of activity and colouring books, and why not throw in some jigsaw puzzles, duvet covers and wall decals?

That might sound cynical, but if kids are going to bomb their bedrooms with branded merch, then let it be Stitch, because what he represents is wonderful.

For those who were either too old or too young and somehow missed the original, the story is about the friendship between two lonely souls searching for an anchor and somewhere to belong, and how they make each other better people.

Although Stitch does not know this from the beginning. He is an experiment created by Dr Jumba (Zach Galifianakis), an alien scientist. Stitch escapes capture by the United Galactic Federal and lands on Earth, specifically on an island in Hawaii.

He was created to destroy but trapped on island with no big cities (and he’s afraid of water because it increases his molecular density), he has to find another purpose. He finds that in Lilo (Maia Kealoha), a six-year-old girl he initially connects with to use as a shield against Jumba, who has been sent to retrieve him under the supervision of an agent, Pleakley (Billy Magnussen).

Lilo lost both her parents and is looked after by her older sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong). Nani put her personal ambitions on hold to be guardian to Lilo, and as barely more than a kid herself, every day is a struggle.

This is a working class family with one income, and Lilo is a high-spirited, imaginative and weird kid that doesn’t always do as she’s told. In the tradition of extended, community-based families in Hawaii, Nani has help from neighbour Tutu (Amy Hill), a new character created for this remake, and Tutu’s grandson David (Kaipo Dudoit), who has a crush on Nani.

The original film introduced the concept of ohana to the wider world, that family encompasses more than just blood, and that you’re always there for them. Disney movies has portrayed many forms of found families, but Lilo & Stitch really leans into the fact that there is no ideal family unit, it is what you make of it and that you have work at it.

Stitch defies his programming because Lilo loves him and believes in him, and if that’s not a beautiful story about someone’s capacity for change, then what is?

The remake keeps the general story intact although there are a few shifts to accommodate the jump from 2D animation to live-action and CGI.

The character of Captain Gantu has been cut, probably because an enormous shark monster is scary for small kids, and Cobra Bubbles, who was a CIA agent-turned-social worker is now just a spy. The social worker character has been separated out into Mrs Kekoa, played by Tia Carrere who voiced Nani in the cartoon.

There is more of an emphasis on the relationship between Lilo and Nani, and Nani’s character, in particular, has been deepened in this version. Kealoha as Lilo is also excellent, for someone so young, she has great performance instincts and really holds the screen, especially when you consider she’s probably acting against a tennis ball on a stick.

The most important thing, the factor that will sell all that Stitch merch is that the CGI animation for the character is super effective. He really is, as he calls himself, “so cute and fluffy”. His movements, attitude, the fact Chris Sanders came back to voice the character, the whole damn thing, just works.

Which you can’t say for the rest of the CGI, especially how Jumba and Pleakley are animated. They look weird and off-putting, so at least the characters are mostly in their human disguises.

But for the most part, this remake is a charming film. Was it necessary? No, but how many movies are. However, you can’t be offended it exists, and it has plenty of emotional moments and raucous shenanigans.

Fun, fun, fun.

Rating: 3.5/5

Lilo & Stitch is in cinemas on Thursday, May 22