‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2025) review: Ohana means mostly Nani now

Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch (2025) is heartfelt, chaotic, and a bit uneven, but at least Nani finally gets the spotlight she deserves.

It’s been 23 years since Disney’s blue, four-armed chaos gremlin cannonballed his way into our hearts, and now Stitch returns in live-action form. Yep, Lilo & Stitch (2025) is the latest in the Mouse House’s “nostalgia-fueled reimaginings” collection. A genre that’s become less of a creative decision and more of a tax write-off with CGI paint. But this one? Surprisingly less cynical than most. In fact, it’s got a bit of soul…albeit one that looks like it’s been scanned through a waterlogged smartphone.

Directed by Marcel the Shell maestro Dean Fleischer Camp, this reboot/revival/remix aims less for spectacle and more for sincerity. That’s the secret weapon here. Where many other recent Disney remakes (The Lion King, Mulan, Pinocchio, Oh God Why Does this Keep Happening) often feel like they were algorithmically generated by a suddenly sentient Disney+, this Lilo & Stitch feels like a real movie made by real humans who, get this, actually like the original.

“What hideous planet is caught in your crosshairs?”

The bones of the 2002 classic remain: Lilo (played by winning newcomer Maia Kealoha) is a weird, wonderful Hawaiian girl with no friends and too many Elvis records. Her sister Nani (a surprisingly standout Sydney Agudong) is barely holding it together after the death of their parents. And Stitch (still voiced by the iconic Chris Sanders) crash-lands into their lives with unresolved attachment issues. Hijinks ensue. ‘Ohana is said about 12 times per minute. Tears are shed, sometimes by the audience.

But here’s where Camp throws us a curveball. This isn’t really Lilo & Stitch redux. It’s Lilo & Nani & Stitch: The College Dropout Years. The live-action version shifts its emotional center way more toward Nani this time around, transforming her from overworked side character to co-lead in what often feels like a Hawaiian-flavored Lady Bird. She’s juggling jobs, trauma, and a six-year-old who communicates almost exclusively through high-pitched squeaks and veiled threats. Agudong brings the heat, the exhaustion, and the earnestness, and the film is (overall) stronger for it.

“He’s so cute and fluffy!”

It’s a clever angle, too. For years, fans (mostly on Tumblr) have rallied around Nani as one of Disney’s most underappreciated characters. Sort of a Gen Z TikTok hero before Gen Z knew what a VHS was. This adaptation picks up that baton and runs laps with it, turning her into the film’s most compelling presence. If the original was about a girl finding a friend, this one’s about a woman finding the strength to keep her family together when the universe (and a few aliens) keep hurling coconuts at her head.

Still, you can feel the budgetary tension pulling at the seams. Stitch doesn’t exactly look bad, but there’s a plasticky sheen to him that makes him feel more like an Etsy plushie than a living, breathing character. In fact, Stitch gets less screentime than you might expect, often shunted aside while we get extended sequences of Nani struggling to pay bills, apply for jobs, and deal with the CIA’s most weirdly chill operative, Cobra Bubbles (played with subtle gravitas by Courtney B. Vance). It’s the domestic dramedy version of Lilo & Stitch that at times feels more tailor-made for millennials than the new kids on the block.

“You sure that’s a dog?”

As for the alien subplot…well, let’s call it “streamlined.” Gone is the original’s robust intergalactic menagerie. Instead, we get Zach Galifianakis as a human-looking Jumba (yep), and Billy Magnussen as a jittery, somewhat less cross-dressing Pleakley. Their chemistry is less “alien buddy cops” and more “local improv duo forced into cosplay.”

Galifianakis tries to menace as the new replacement villain (which I personally reject), but we can still hear his “Between Two Ferns” cadence lurking underneath. Meanwhile, Magnussen, bless him, is doing his best Weird Uncle Energy™ but makes you long for Jim Rash in every scene.

On the visual front, there’s genuine care in the production design. The Hawaiian setting looks lived-in, not resort-pamphlet glossy. And the filmmakers smartly leverage the local crew and culture. From the authentic pidgin dialogue to the design of the Pelekai house (built ground-up on Oʻahu’s windward side), there’s a tangible respect for place and people. This movie’s mana is in the details, even if the CGI fur doesn’t always match the lighting.

“Sometimes family isn’t perfect.”

And then there’s Lilo herself. Kealoha truly gets this character. Her performance is playful, erratic, heartfelt. She has that chaotic kid energy that doesn’t feel stagey or precocious. You believe this girl would adopt an alien and feed it peanut butter in a bathtub.

Ultimately, Lilo & Stitch (2025) is a movie that understands its assignment. It doesn’t try to replace the original, it tries to complement it. It’s clumsy in places, saccharine in others, but never dishonest. The jokes land more than they don’t, the tears are earned, and the Elvis needle-drops (while regrettably sparse) still shake hips. It’s nowhere near as timeless as its predecessor, but it stitches together a lovely enough family of its own.

Lilo & Stich (2025) crash lands in theaters on May 23. Watch the trailer here.

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Images courtesy of Disney.