Review of Lilo & Stitch, directed by Dean Fleischer Camp

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I recently fell into a spell of unemployment probably during the worst time to be unemployed, as it was very hard to find a job. I was applying to hundreds of jobs, getting interviews, but no offer was manifesting for me in the near future. So during this time, I had a lot of free time, and spent a good chunk of it chipping away at the blog.

Back in the day, when I had a car (a kid totaled it a while back, and because I was unemployed, I didn’t want to take on a car payment while I did contract/freelance work remotely), I used to go to the movie theater two or three times a week. I had AMC A List, and because my county had quite a few AMC options, and I went to New York often, I had the chance to go and see whatever I wanted.

I ended up canceling my A List because I had no car and I thought I was moving abroad, which fell through after waiting four months and being told that it was going to happen. I missed my A List dearly during this time, especially as there were so many movies I wanted to see and no longer had the chance.

It was a year after losing my A List that my sister suggested getting it again before she moved in with her boyfriend, and the very first movie we saw together was Lilo and Stitch. I was indifferent about seeing it, although curious because I had grown with the original. But because A List lets us see four movies a week, I figured I might as well get my money’s worth.

Let’s get into the review! I don’t want to ramble too much in the introduction.

Living with her older sister, six-year-old Lilo wishes for a friend to help alleviate the trauma she’s dealing with.

This movie begins with the Galactic Federation, where Dr. Jumba, a familiar character from the original animated movie and series, has been taken by the authorities along with his Experiment 626. Galactic authorities believe 626 is too dangerous to exist, which Dr. Jumba protests, but when 626 brilliantly escapes and outruns the authorities, they decide to send Dr. Jumba and Agent Peakley, an Earth expert, to Hawai’i, where Stitch has crash landed.

Before the night he crashes on the planet though, two sisters named Lilo and Nani are going through it. They lost their parents and Nani, despite receiving a full ride at USDC for marine biology, decides to take guardianship of Lilo, who is six. She’s working a service job, and when Lilo pushes a girl off the stage who’s bullying her at hula, she’s kicked out of the hula group.

Lilo goes home alone and plays a loud record, locking the doors so Nani can’t get in when she gets home. That’s when their social worker, Mrs. Kekoa, shows up and tells Nani she has a week to get it together (and get health insurance) before Lilo is taken away to a foster family. Night falls, and Lilo wishes on a falling star for a friend who won’t hurt her, which will arrive in the form of 626—but not after he crashes a wedding.

It’s when Lilo is with their neighbor, Tutu, that she discovers 626 in the animal shelter and decides he’s her new dog. Dr. Jumba and Agent Pleakly are hot on their trail though, having taken on human disguises, and we see them throughout the film trying to get 626. The CIA are now involved, as Cobra Bubbles, a director, is personally on the case since he suspects alien activity.

While 626, dubbed Stitch after he claws up the truck backing, proves to be quite the handful, Nani brings Stitch and Lilo to work and they cause a fire. Nani loses her job, the social worker finds out about the situation and brings Bubbles with her to investigate, and there’s a few scenes where Nani is rejected from every job because of Lilo and Stitch’s antics.

However, she does find a surfing gig, but almost loses Lilo and Stitch when Peakely and Jumba try to snatch Stitch off of their surfboard. Lilo has to be taken to the hospital due to her near-death experience, and Nani realizes she can’t afford the hospital bill. Their social worker then informs her that if she gives Lilo up to the state, the bills will go away, and Nani realizes she has no choice.

The sisters spend their last night together cuddling and singing, while Stitch goes to the animal shelter because he thinks he ruined everything. Dr. Jumba, after being rearrested by the Councilwoman, abandons Peakley and decides to go rogue, as he can turn Stitch into a weapon no one can stop.

When Lilo is missing the next morning, as Nani is just about to give her up, everyone starts searching. Lilo rescues Stitch from Dr. Jumba, but it results in the destruction of her home, and Stitch, after Dr. Jumba tells Lilo that Stitch used her for protection, gives himself up. However, Lilo follows them into the portal and busts Stitch out of his jail on the spaceship, and they force Jumba off the ship.

The ship crashes in the water, and Stitch, despite not being able to swim, saves Lilo from drowning. As she screams and is rescued by her sister and David, she tells Nani that they can’t leave Stitch behind, as he’s family. Nani goes back for Stitch, but he’s unconscious. They use their car cables and electricity to revive him, but then the Galactic Federation shows up to arrest Stitch for good.

It’s there the Councilwoman sees that Stitch has done good acts and made a family, and she agrees to let him live out his exile on Earth. Agent Peakley is left behind on Earth in order to watch them, and when they go home, Tutu and David take Lilo in so Nani can go to San Diego. The film ends with her in college as Stitch opens a portal so she can visit her sister in Hawai’i.

Overall Thoughts

As someone who was somewhat familiar (although my memories have faded a little) of the original movie and television series, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this movie. I did love the representations of Hawaiian culture and actual island life, beyond the tourism aspects, and I lowkey would have loved to see a movie about that rather than the Disney version of the story.

Regardless, I think this is a movie that has such good themes and context to it, but it falls flat. It’s a bit awkward with its pacing, and while the actors do a good job with the movie, the script itself is clunky. The dialogue is a bit too stiff at times, even with good acting trying to pass it off as more natural.

I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the changes they made in the movie. My sister agreed with me there on those notes, as we were a bit confused by Dr. Jumba being the antagonist of the film, as well as the fact it was kind of clearly set up for a sequel in some ways due to the plot not being wrapped up.

Because I have seen so many movies on A List this is basically free, I’m not too mad I saw it when it comes to finances. But I wouldn’t pay a lot of money to see this personally, nor would it be a high priority. Maybe someone else out there loves it more than I did, and I salute them for that.

Go watch it though if you’re interested—but maybe not paying movie theater prices, especially if you have a family.

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