Live-action “Lilo and Stitch misses the point

On the whole, the live-action remakes of Disney animated movies have been bad. At best, they have been forgettable. At worst, they have been unwatchable. They have become soulless cash grabs that, except for "Lilo and Stitch," have not made that much at the box office. 

A remake of the 2002 movie of the same name, "Lilo and Stitch," is the story of a girl named Lilo (Maia Kealoah) who lives with her sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong). They adopt a "dog" who turns out to be an alien trying to escape his creators, who want him destroyed.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I genuinely appreciated "Lilo and Stitch." It was one of the movies released after the Disney Renaissance (for more on that, check out mattkeepsrambling.tumblr.com). It did not get the praise that "The Lion King" or "Beauty and the Beast" did. It has become one of my favorite Disney movies, which is why I was disappointed in the remake. 

Here are the parts that I enjoyed. Maia Kealoah is great as Lilo. She embodies the manic energy that Lilo brings into her and Nani's lives. They kept Stitch (voiced in both movies by Chris Sanders) the same chaos gremlin he was in the original; any change to Stitch would have been a massive mistake. 

The repeated line, "Ohana means family and family means that no one gets left behind," is the central message of both movies. The remake doesn't fully understand that. In both films, Nani struggles to keep custody of Lilo, but only in the remake does Nani consider giving Lilo up to the state for adoption. That is not in keeping with the theme of "ohana." 

They also changed up the ultimate villain of the movie. In the original, Jumba is the one who created Stitch and is tasked with capturing him. In the end, he joins Lilo in the effort to save Stitch. In the original, another alien, Captain Gantu, is eventually the one who is trying to destroy Stitch. This character is completely cut out of the movie, so Jumba doesn't receive a redemption arc; he is portrayed as a one-dimensional villain. 

I had hoped this would be a better movie. It makes confounding changes to the source material, but doesn't try to do anything interesting. The live-action remakes are a concept that needs to be abandoned. Sadly, there are a bunch more planned, including a sequel to "Lilo and Stitch." This is one of those Hollywood trends that I cannot defend and refuse to get behind. If you are a parent, watch the original with your kiddos; it is a much better movie. 

6/10

Rated PG for action, peril, and thematic elements.

1h 48m