| Worth seeing: | for the comedic chaos that comes from the various aliens trying to understand the peculiarities of Planet Earth |
| Director: | Dean Fleischer Camp |
| Featuring: | Chris Sanders, Maia Kealoha, Sydney Agudong, Amy Hill, Billy Magnussen, Courtney B Vance, David Hekili Kenui Bell, Hannah Waddingham, Tia Carrere, Zach Galifianakis |
| Length: | 108 minutes |
| Certificate: | U |
| Country: | US |
| Released: | 21st May 2025 |
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
On a faraway planet, a devious scientist, Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) is on trial after a genetic experiment goes awry and he creates a highly intelligent, but aggressive and overly energetic creature – known as Experiment 626. Jumba is jailed and the creature is exiled – but manages to escape custody, seeking refuge on Earth.
The Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham) sends Jumba down to Earth to retrieve the creature, with the help of a self-declared expert on the planet, Pleakley (Billy Magnussen). Soon after arriving on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, the creature finds itself trapped in a cage in a pet shop.
Meanwhile, not too far away, a social worker, Mrs Kekoa (Tia Carrere), is considering taking young Lilo (Maia Kealoha) into care, because her teenaged sister Nani (Sydney Agudong), is struggling to adopt the mother role after the death of their parents.
When Lilo’s behaviour gets her kicked out of a dance group, it’s suggested that a pet might calm her down, but of all the dogs to choose from – she picks the excitable, blue creature – of unknown origin. She soon names him Stitch.
With Nani trying to balance supporting Lilo with keeping a job – under the watchful eye of the social services – while Stich is being hunted by Jumba, Pleakley – and US government agents, will Lilo and Stitch continue to cause problems for those closest to them – or will their friendship solve all of their problems.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Just weeks after Snow White, Disney has released another live action remake of one of its own animated features – and again, unsurprisingly, although it’s “live action,” there’s inevitably a bit of animation going on – you can’t get a dog to play a six legged, blue, intergalactic pest, after all.
There’s quite a lot of back-story to get through before our two heroes finally meet, allowing the central story to get underway. And it feels a little uneven, blending loud action and intimate drama with broad comedy; Jumba and Pleakley play as a fish-out-of-water farce, the scenes with the social worker come across as worthy drama and Stitch turns every scene he appears in into an anarchic display of chaos. But the target audience of primary school children won’t be worried about the uneven tone, with plenty of fun and frolicks to keep them entertained.
It was fun, exciting, somewhat silly and unexpectedly moving at times.
With an alien befriending a child with a difficult home-life – while government agents and fellow aliens are trying to find him, Lilo and Stitch feels a bit like an updated version of ET – with the visitor, perhaps, having eaten a few too many M&Ms.