In the case of Disney’s live-action remakes of its personal animated movies, my place is firmly “against.”
Except for being nostalgia-baiting money grabs, movies like 2017’s Magnificence and the Beast and 2025’s Snow White might boast strong performances, however they by no means handle to recapture the magic of the medium that constructed the Disney empire within the first place. Beautiful, emotive fantasy worlds like The Little Mermaid‘s underwater kingdom or Aladdin‘s Agrabah are flattened into CGI sludge. Unusual adaptation selections like additional subplots (who wanted to know a lot about Prince Eric?) clog up what have been initially tight, typically highly effective tales.
Disney is not even reaching that far again into its catalogue to create these motion pictures. This yr’s Lilo & Sew retells the story of a movie launched all the best way again in… 2002. (In the meantime, 2026’s live-action Moana remakes an animated movie that is simply barely a decade previous.)
Regardless of my skepticism, 2025’s Lilo & Sew managed to win me over greater than another Disney live-action remake to date. A lot of it comes all the way down to the persevering with attraction of the unique film, which director Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel The Shell With Sneakers On) capably emulates within the remake. Except for the occasional baffling change from the unique, Lilo & Sew cements itself as sweetly enjoyable in its personal proper, due to its loving therapy of its central pairing.
Lilo and Sew shine in reside motion, too.
Maia Kealoha and Sew in “Lilo & Stitch.”
Credit score: Disney
Like many Disney remakes earlier than it, Lilo & Sew kicks off as a reasonably beat-for-beat recreation of the unique movie. Exiled alien experiment Sew (voiced by Chris Sanders, who co-directed and voiced Sew within the authentic movie) crash lands in Hawaii, the place six-year-old orphan Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha) adopts him as a pet. Collectively, these two stand up to heaps of bother — however additionally they study necessary messages about household and duty.
These acquainted beats labored properly within the animated movie, and so they translate properly to reside motion. (Even when this film is sorely missing the colourful colours of the unique.) A lot of that success comes all the way down to the enduring energy of the dynamic duo at Lilo & Sew‘s coronary heart, each of whom shine in “live-action.”
Newcomer Kealoha is completely treasured as Lilo, each a rebellious firecracker and a weak outcast. She faces the robust job of appearing reverse a totally CGI character, but she makes each interplay with Sew really feel grounded and actual. Any scene the place she and Sew hug? Instantaneous tears.
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Sew himself proves a star in reside motion in addition to animation. Camp and his workforce crafted a creature who seems to be and feels actual (get a load of that fur!), all with out sacrificing expression for photorealism. From his twitchy ears to his huge darkish eyes, Sew proves to be essentially the most profitable translation of an animated Disney creature to reside motion, largely as a result of the movie maintains his dynamic sense of chaos. (A scene the place he tears via a marriage is an early spotlight.) Sanders’ voice work stays impeccable as properly, properly bridging the 2 iterations of the character.
How is that this Lilo & Sew completely different from the unique? Pleakley and Jumba.
Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis in “Lilo & Stitch.”
Credit score: Zach Dougan
Not each Lilo & Sew character interprets as properly to reside motion, although. Sew’s creator, scientist Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis), and his accomplice in looking Sew down, Earth skilled Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), look uncanny as CGI aliens. In Jumba’s case, it is a matter of getting two many eyes (4), and in Pleakley’s, too few (one).
Lilo & Sew is aware of this seems to be lower than ideally suited, which is why the pair spends many of the movie in human types — due to alien cloning know-how. This permits Fleischer Camp to focus the creature results on Sew, in addition to add the bodily comedy of two aliens attempting to look human. Magnussen excels right here, his Pleakley all manic smiles and overzealous physique language.
Tragically lacking is Pleakley’s penchant for female-coded clothes, which Camp has said on tiktok that he tried to incorporate. The omission looks like an try and erase any second that might be learn as queer (though Pleakley and Jumba nonetheless really feel very queer-coded), making for one more disappointing occasion of self-censorship on Disney’s half. Earlier this yr, Disney’s Pixar lower a transgender storyline from its sequence Win or Lose, and in 2022 lower a same-sex kiss in Lightyear till workers stress led to its restoration.
Additionally lacking is Lilo’s penchant for photographing vacationers in Hawaii. What little critique the unique had of over tourism in Hawaii is changed with Lilo sneaking into resorts as an alternative. This too looks like Disney eradicating Lilo & Sew‘s extra subversive components. On condition that this story facilities on two wild balls of chaos, taming even the slightest edges of the unique undermines Lilo & Sew‘s very core.
One other disarming change is the removing of the unique’s final antagonist Captain Gantu. A 20-foot-tall shark-like alien, he possible would have been troublesome to render properly contemplating Lilo & Sew‘s $100 million funds, which makes it among the many cheaper live-action Disney choices. Nonetheless, his absence strikes Jumba right into a extra antagonistic position. Galifianakis, whereas typically humorous, does not channel a lot of Jumba’s mad scientist power. So his tackle Jumba comes throughout as much less menacing and extra exasperated — an odd alternative for a Large Unhealthy.
Lilo and Nani’s relationship is a spotlight in Lilo & Sew.
Maia Kealoha and Sydney Agudong in “Lilo & Stitch.”
Credit score: Matt Kennedy
Whereas a few of Lilo & Sew‘s adjustments from the unique do not operate very properly, the movie’s determination to focus much more on Nani’s (Sydney Agudong) struggles in elevating Lilo proves rewarding. The animated movie painted a shifting portrait of an overwhelmed younger girl attempting to do what’s proper for her sister. Camp takes his cues from that to additional discover Nani’s aspirations and her anxieties, which embody securing medical health insurance for her and Lilo. Agudong is commonly heartbreaking in these scenes of real-world wrestle. Her and Kealoha share a candy, playful chemistry that brings their sisterhood to poignant life.
These tender scenes between Lilo and Nani are among the many strongest and grounded sequences I’ve seen in a live-action Disney remake. Additionally efficient are Lilo’s bonding scenes with Sew, together with a water struggle and a candy kiss on the nostril. Once more, a lot of that influence comes all the way down to how properly these similar scenes labored within the authentic movie, which makes speaking about Disney remakes really feel like grading on a curve.
Nonetheless, this Lilo & Sew retains a lot of the enjoyable of the 2002 movie, and it comes with nice performances and results work that really makes Sew really feel actual. Like with each Disney remake, you would be higher off watching the unique, however should you have to observe one of many remakes, make it this one.
Lilo & Sew opens in theaters on Might 23.
