Cat Owens

I'll be HONEST.. as a 1996 millennial who was OBSESSED with 2002 and the tv show.. it was kind of a different movie entirely! Lilo & NANI. NOT Lilo & stitch. Jumba was a villain the wholeeee movie because there is NO freaking GANTU. AT ALL! So, Jumba had NO redemption arc and basially no love for stitch like he does in the OG. There was no connection or comedic relief between he and Pleakly. Stitch barely had screen time. David felt like a background character. They even changed the scene where he saves Stitch. I WILL say that the actors for Lilo, Nani & David was 10/10 compared to the animation. Lilo's actress seemed aged down a bit though. Bubbles was the worst (along with Jumba) as he is turned into a background supporting character instead of a MAIN character to the plot. They replaced him with a lady social worker. Also… they made Lilo “PUSH” Mertle instead of the ICONIC punches and beating that we LOVED to see in the original!!! Mertle didn’t even have her circle glasses, so you didn’t even know it was her until Lilo had pushed her. They added a neighbor as an UNNECSSARY main character. Honestly, if the acting wasn’t SO good, I would’ve been REALLY disappointed! Zack Galifianakis was a REALLLLLLLY REALLY terrible Jumba. Not to mention, the writers also rushed the entire plot & modernized it down to iPhones & even went as far as to mention friggin TikTok! I mean Nani had on a purple rain local Walmart t-shirt for God’s sake! They changed the WHOLE ending. I would have appreciated more homage to the original and Hawaiin culture than this new "woke" modernization of the remakes.