Lilo & Stitch - A Disgrace To The Original?

Over the years, Disney has released a wide array of live action remakes, some good but most bad. For every Aladdin and Cinderella, there's five more Lion Kings. So how does their newest entry into the live action universe stack up? Surprisingly very well, I may even go as far to say I prefer this to the original - a phrase I never thought I'd say.

This isn't to say this is better than the original, just that I found more enjoyment. It all depends what you're looking for or value most. If you want a heartfelt ride with plenty of tear worthy moments, you'll enjoy the live action more. However, if you're looking for a more comedic and silly approach to this story, you'll be more in favour of the original. This is, of course, greatly helped by the fact it's animated, so they can do things that wouldn't look right or even be possible in real life.

Lilo & Stitch is a very heartwarming story of finding your place in the world while learning how to properly deal with grief and loss, rather than taking it out on others. This movie has so much heart and so much more care put into it that some of the other obvious soulless cash grabs. This is very much held up by the amazing director, Dean Fleischer Camp - who you may know from Marcel The Shell With Shoes On. You can really tell this is not only a passion project for him, but also his bread and butter, with the amount of heartwarming and heartbreaking moments woven within this story.

Maia Kealoha, Lilo's actress, was incredible in this role at such a young age. Not only is she simply an amazing actor, it's amplified so much from the fact that she's acting alongside basically nothing for a lot of the runtime. I'm sure there was a Stitch stand in - and possibly even a puppet - but even so, it's impressive she was able to bring out such a beautiful performance without another human to play off.

I only have a few problems with this movie, but even those aren't major. First off, I felt as if there wasn't much conflict throughout, involving Jumba and Pleakley. While, yes, this did exist in the original - and they're actually in the remake more - that doesn't mean it's a detail that should have stayed. Even though the first two acts are simply Lilo and Stitch's story of their friendship blossoming, I felt like there could have been a little more of Jumba and Pleakley working in the background. Really, a very simple change could have been Stitch using Lilo as a human shield, since they mention in the third act that he did, yet we never actually saw this, unlike in the original.

However, my biggest issue with this movie is Jumba and Pleakley's disguises. It may not seem like a big thing, so what they're not wearing drag and simply have these cloaking devices? Well, I believe most of the humour surrounding them is that they obviously don't look human in any way, yet nobody bats an eye - just like Scooby Doo dressing up and easily getting on that plane. However, with these cloaking devices, they simply just turn into humans so there's no humour about nobody catching on.

While I believe comparing these movies does no ultimate good, this is a remake of a beloved classic so I'd be amiss if I didn't mention it. Of course, there are a few changes from the original, for better or worse. First off, there's slightly more focus on Nani's story in the live action, which I did appreciate. I think this is partially accredited to the decision to split Cobra Bubbles into two people. This easily splits up the two sides of this story, being Nani saving Lilo from being taken away and Stitch being captured. It may seem like quite a simple change but it does a lot of good for this story.

Another change is the entire third act. In the original, Stitch saves Lilo from that spaceship in the finale, whereas the live action has Lilo, Nani, and David save Stitch from drowning. I'm honestly quite neutral on this change, I don't mind the third act either way. They each have their own symbolisms and meanings which makes me like both the finales. However, I didn't like the erasure of Captain Gantu in the remake, that was a bad choice.

As a whole, this remake is almost perfectly on par with the original, in my opinion. There are a few changes, but none with malice intent or no forethought. Any change was done for a good reason that didn't hurt the movie in any way. I hope Disney stops with these live action remakes, but if they're going to continue, it should be like this.