No matter how much this live-action interpretation tries to appeal to grownup sensibility and kiddos who adore fuzzy creatures, there is a visual and emotional discrepancy between the human acting and CGI-renderings. You simply can’t have it both ways.
Where six-year-old Maia Kealoha melts our hearts with a touching performance of Lilo in need of a best friend, the cartoony alien mumbo jumbo and wild Stitch antics feel like an entirely different movie.
Yes, the essential ‘Ohana emphasis on family values is there before and after Stitch destroys the place, and newcomer Sydney Agudong is a believable older sister trying to make ends meet for the broken family. But the suspension of disbelief wears thin between human purpose and Stitch farting in a fruit punch bowl.
Interestingly, the CGI Jumba Jookiba creation is fascinating to look at, but its human form in Zach Galifianakis couldn’t be any duller. On the flip side, one-eyed Pleakley is one-toned, but actor Billy Magnussen is quite funny. You simply can’t have it both ways.
Some of the kids in my theatre laughed at the burps.
Good for Disney.
My little ones quietly observed the nonsense while eating a whole bucket of popcorn.
Good for the theatres.
My wife and I laughed at the end when wonderful Amy Hill of 50 First Dates (2004) says, “It never ends.”
What this movie really needs to be is a 2D animated film.
Oh, wait…
Lilo & Stitch (2025) **1/2 out of *****
Reely Bernie 
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