Disney’s trend of mining its back catalogue for nostalgia continues and will continue as long as it continues to print unlimited money. They had a bump in the road with Snow White, but they’re back with Lilo & Stitch, the live-action remake of the 2002 animated classic that not only embraced Hawaiian culture but introduced arguably their most iconic character of the 21st century. With their updated version, Disney have made the bold decision to strip out the soul of the original to create a lifeless, ugly shell of the original that tries its hardest to itch that nostalgia portion of your brain.

The entire first 20 minutes pass in a whirlwind of exposition, almost like the film is running at x1.5 speed. They are desperate to cram all this information about the aliens in as quick as possible because it’s damn expensive to have that much CGI; this might be the first Disney film in a long time that seems completely and utterly broke. Yes, they made this for $100 million, but the decision to make Pleakley and Jumba mostly human and cut the lead villain from the original seems purely about penny pinching, which harms the film greatly at the end of the day.

A drastic amount of the story has changed in this remake. Making Jumba the antagonist is a creative move that does not work well, as he was never meant to be a true villain. As a result, it feels jarring and quite sad to see the direction in which they have taken this character. Arguably, the film tries its hardest to go against the ‘ohana means family’ central theme that should be at its core; they want to make it as real as possible by making the social worker have to take Lilo off of Nani, and that does not work well as a climactic story beat. Every single decision to change the story actively changes it for the worse; it’s remarkable that the Disney executives upstairs even allowed this to be approved because this is a shadow of the original film.

The main positive aspects of the film are the character of Stitch and the actors who play Lilo and Nani. Stitch is very engaging as a character. He has been the poster child of Disney in the 21st century, and that will only continue after the success of this remake. His scenes are often funny and enjoyable, but that is because they were funny and enjoyable in the original. Lilo’s actor, Maia Kealoha, does a good job of embodying this six-year-old terror, and many of her actions come across as something a six-year-old would do. Nani’s actor, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, does what she can with the material she is given, but it is a shame that Nani’s character changes so much from the original. I will say that Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen are utterly awful as Jumba and Pleakley, most notably Galifianakis. His voice immediately tells you that he was dead wrong for this role.

Overall, 2025’s Lilo & Stitch is a drab and colourless film, lacking the true soul of the original and doesn’t add anything of worth to the story of these characters. I expected more from the director of Marcel the Shell With the Shoes On, but I’m sure the blandness comes from the higher-ups upstairs who see these classic films as just IP waiting to be remade for $1 billion.