Less explosions, more heart, and middling nostalgia.

Six-year old Lilo (Maia Kealoha) is something of a misfit, with a big imagination but a bit rudderless since the passing of her parents. Her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) is doing what she can, putting her life on hold to make sure Lilo is provided for but mostly winging it. With bills going unpaid, their Hawaiian home unkempt, and child services threatening to separate them, Lilo wishes on a falling star for a new friend — a best friend — an angel who can make everything all better. Unfortunately, exiled genetic Experiment 626 (voice of Chris Sanders) has escaped galactic custody… and Lilo’s “falling star” is about to crash land his stolen ship into their backyard. Pursued by an anxiety-ridden Earth expert named Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) and the experiment’s “evil genius” creator Jumba (Zach Galifianakis), 626 quickly adapts to hide in plain sight, posing as a Koala-looking dog whom Lilo names “Stitch.” Let the games begin!

Gone are the pleasant watercolor backgrounds, storybook animation, and booming voice of David Ogden Stiers (just like that!), replaced by live-action characters and locations, VFX aliens, and the wry sarcasm of Zach Galifianakis. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On creator Dean Fleischer Camp directed the rework from a script by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, Mike Van Waes, and Chris Sanders (yes, Stitch himself wrote on both this and the original Lilo & Stitch as well as the 2010 How to Train Your Dragon and the 2024 The Wild Robot). With the 2025 Snow White debacle in the rearview mirror, Disney has high hopes for its trusty cash-earning furry blue alien, a merchandise staple so lucrative there was no chance it wouldn’t earn a live-action treatment. Will lovable live-action Lilo and CGI Stitch cater to new audiences and please old fans, or is this just a bunch of meega nala kweesta?

Fans who remember the original may not love all the changes, but the live-action version reworks enough story to give added quality time to Lilo and Nani instead of merely sticking with Stitch, allowing the humans to literally bring the film’s climactic ending down to Earth. Beats inspired by and/or taken directly from the original film fail to follow through, too often calling attention to themselves. Example: Earth-expert Pleakley mentions rebuilding the mosquito population (wink wink), but the plot points and responses to that candid revelation never happen, so why mention it at all? Subplots eating up significant screen time — Stitch’s “Ugly Duckling” references and Lilo’s popular girl problems — have been thoroughly stricken. Nitpicks like these won’t be noticed by first-time viewers, but it would have been nicer if the editors could have included the full bits or similarly expunged these leftovers to the benefit of the final cut. Lilo’s borderline “Wednesday Addams” spooky-fun weirdness was definitely missed (“My friends must be punished”) but the additional infused charm go a long way toward an acceptable compromise.

Stitch can always be counted upon to make chaotic (read: entertaining) choices, transitioning from animation to CGI intact and unscathed. Kealoha’s Lilo is instantly likeable, making the character her own at the age of seven (during filming) and believably reacting to her post-production co-star. Agudong gets more to work with playing Nani, not just stepping up as Lilo’s guardian but putting a promising career on hold to do so. Courtney B. Vance replaces Ving Rhames as the live-action yet subdued Cobra Bubbles, and Tia Carrere trades her vocals as 2002’s Nani to become the new social worker preceding the arrival of “when things go wrong.” Kaipo Dudoit replaces David, another role subdued perhaps to expand Amy Hill’s role as David’s guardian Tutu (purposely glossing over more than a few obvious questions). Captain “does this look infected to you” Gantu has been entirely written out with his slightly villainous arc, handing it off to another character to provide more of bad guy than seems necessary.

After a familial montage denouement, there’s a pre-credit final scene suggesting future possibilities… assuming this film does the kind of business Disney prefers. While other intellectual property sequels greenlit by the Mousehouse haven’t had the best track record, this formula could knock a sequel out of the atmosphere… as long as future filmmakers make a bold departure from the original source material.

Lilo & Stitch 2025 is rated PG for action, peril, thematic elements, in spite of a noticeable lack of backing up sewers, reversing street signs, and stealing everyone’s left shoe.

Three skull recommendation out of four