Lilo & Stitch 2002 Film Review

Believe it or not but we are just a few short days away from seeing the release of yet another Disney live action remake. However unlike quite literally all of the others this one actually looks good and since the remake is coming out in a few shorts days I thought that now was the absolutely right time to finally check out the original film as it's one that quite alot of people really do like for one reason or another and so then me as I review the film that is all about family with the film in question being called simply just "Lilo & Stitch" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when an alien lifeform crash lands on earth and befriends a local girl name Lilo the two form a strong friendship and have to overcome some aliens that have been to see recapture him. Now then in of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in tis very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally tought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty OK at best as this films plot is pretty thin which is something that does make alot of sense as this is a film that doesn't require that deep of a plot as going with a more simple plot does allow for the characters to shine through and just be there adorable selves but at the same time tho this films plot does feel like that it's going through the motions with the characters just doing things because the plot demands it and even the fact the other aliens had been sent to recapture Stitch not really making sense as the aliens wanted to rid themselves of him anyway and so it wouldn't make sense for them to send people to go after him when he's already done exactly what you want but when the film does focus on it's plot that's when it gets to be alot more interesting as Disney films from this time period where getting a bit predictable and easy to work out where they were going with their plots something that cannot be said for this film as it's plot is so off the wall nuts that not only can't work out where it's going but also fall in love with it as well with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Daveigh Chase as Lilo Pelekai and this films co-director and writer Chris Sanders as Stitch. Also starring in this film is Tia Carrere as Nani Pelekai , Jason Scott Lee as David Kawena , David Ogden Stiers as Dr. Jumba Jookiba , Kevin McDonald as Agent Pleakley , Kevin Michael Richardson as Captain Gantu , Zoe Caldwell as The Grand Councilwoman , Miranda Paige Walls as Mertle Edmonds , Kunewa Mook as Moses Puloki , Amy Hill as Mrs. Hasagawa and Ving Rhames as Cobra Bubbles.

Now then in of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this films acting being alot more better then what it really had any right to be as when you take a look at this films cast lost it doesn't really fill you hope that there will be good acting in this film and yet that's exactly what we get from all of this films actors as they all turn in some really good performances so much so that pretty much all of them would reprise their roles for all of the various TV shows and movies thus making them THE definitive voices for these which is something that does really help with the acting in this film as you do get a very strong sense of all of this films actors really knowing just who these characters and because of that they can turn in some really good performances in this film and while yes some of this films actors are better then others as after all Chris Sanders is a better director then he is an actor as while he is decent in this film his performance does feel more wooden when compared to all of this films other actors with the best actor in this film being Daveigh Chase who brings so much warmth and joy to the role of Lilo with the acting that's in this film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them actually which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the animation for this film is of the course the legends and the greats that are currently over at Walt Disney Feature Animation. Now then in of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films animation being alot more better then what it really had any right to be as by all rights this films animation should have been a complete and total mess and yet somehow it wasn't with it being clear as day that the makers of this film knew that they had to make something good as alot of thought and effort is put into this films animation with this film mixing traditional hand drawn 2D animation with 3D CGI animation really well with all of the characters and building being done in 2D but when we see things like a spaceship for example that's when the film switches to 3D CGI with the switch being seamless as it's mixed in with all of the 2D stuff really well and while yes granted the 2D animation does look better then the films CGI with the CGI looking really dated that's mire due to the fact that they didn't have that good technology back when this film was being over twenty years ago and so of course the films CGI will look dated when compared to something that came out just last week but the films 2D animation not only holds up really well by today's standards but looks just as good as it would have done back in 2002 with all of the backgrounds being very nicely detailed and all of the films characters having some really nice fluid movements to them as well.

This films central message of family and what it means to have a family be it one that your born into or one that your find. Is a very good message not only to say to little kids but just in general as alot of films from around this same time period didn't focus on that message and while it could be a bit heavy handed at times as the film does like to bring it up alot of the time it's message that will always be important as we all have a family be it one that we're born into or one that we've found on are own and to have a film that says that it's OK to love your family and that it's OK to find a family with people like your friends for example will be a good thing for little kids and it's one that people in today's climate do need reminding off with the only thing that does let this films central message of what it means to have a family is the fact that that message doesn't really play a huge part in the films plot with it only really coming into play in the films third act and that's really it which for a message that's this deep and that could be seen as being this thought provoking it is something that should have been given alot more focus and attention as without this message being as good as it is then the film does loose it's emotional core with the thing that helps to sell us the audience on this central message is the fact that we get to see both Nani and Lilo act like genuinely good sisters to each other as while yes they argue like all siblings do they both also show moments of comion and love to each other like the fact that are the start of the film when Lilo is upset about something that happened Nani doesn't shout at her for the wreckage that she's done to the house she comforts her Lilo makes an active effort to like Nani's boyfriend David something that she didn't have to do but because she loves her sister so much she does it anyways and has a great day at the beach because of it.

While tis film is without a shadow of a doubt a comedy it does also have plenty of action scenes in it as well. So much so that it could be viewed an action comedy film with the films action scenes actually being pretty good and alot better then what they really should have been as by all rights this films action should have been as fun to watch as it ended up being and yet because of the act that the makers of this film fully embraced the fact what there making a cartoon in every sense of the word they went above and beyond with this films action as they got to not only mix in some of the films heart but alot of it's humor as well which is something that did make the films action scenes alot more fun to watch and those are thing that the film wouldn't be able if they played everything straight either with it being quite hard to say jus what exactly the best action in this film is as to be frank alot of them could make that claim and it would make total sense but if push was to come to shove then the best action scene in the whole movie had to the third act chase scene between Gantu and Stitch with Stitch at first doing everything that he can do to get away from Gantu but when Gantu captures Lilo Stitch then resolves to help out the only person who's truly liked him in the whole movie and because of that we do end up with a really action sequence which was the perfect to cap off what was a really fun movie to watch as well with it being clear as day that the makers of this film knew how to create some really good action scenes as not only does the films acting get even better in those scenes but so does the animation and while the film does put alot more effort into it's comedy then it does it's action it still doesn't change the fact that this film really does have some really good action in it.

Speaking of Gantu both he and Cobra Bubbles are perhaps the film more weaker villains as neither of them get that much screen time. Which is something that does make sense for Bubbles as he's more tied to the films B plot with Lilo and Nani trying to prove to this social worker that they do look after each other and so of course he won't be featured in the film all that much but Gantu is meant to be the films main villain and yet for alot of the time he's not only barely seen on screen but he's not even mentioned alot of the time with amore of the films screen time being devoted to both Dr. Jumba Jookiba and Agent Pleakley character who aren't meant to be the main villains of the film as there the films comedic relief villains with the fact that we don't get to see Gantu for alot of the time in this film really effecting how he is as a character as the character can't be that well developed and therefor we the audience aren't given a reason to hate him outside of the fact that he's trying to capture Stitch and that's really it and yet if the makers of this film really wanted to to make us hate this character then what they should have done is get rid of the Bubbles character and give whatever screen time that character had to Gantu as then the film could develop the character alot more then what they already do as on paper this character should have worked as he's a character that's just trying to do his job which in this case does mean capturing Stitch by ay means that he deem necessary and yet because of the fact that the character has so little screen time he can't become this truly threatening villain that on paper he should have been due to the fact that he barely appears in the movie.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty five minuets and fourteen seconds. Which is pretty much the exact bogstanderd running time for alot of Disney animated films from around this same time period and to this films credit it does use it's running time as wisely as it possibly could have done as while yes granted the films plot isn't as developed as it perhaps could have been but at the same time tho it could argued that due the plots more simple it really didn't need to be that well developed as all you'd need to know is the basic set up of the film and that's really it and that's something that this film does rather wonderfully as it gives you all of the information that you need to know about the what the films plot is going to be about and then just lets the characters loose and make them free to do there own unique thing and it could also be argued that even tho the films characters aren't that well developed either that that's also part of the charm as we only get to spend three or four days with these characters and that's really it and while yes it would have been nice to have these characters be alot more fully developed then what they were in the final cut of the film it doesn't stop the ones that your meant to like being really likable and cute and funny and the ones that your meant to hate including both Jumba and Agent Pleakley being some somewhat hate able characters in their own right as well as this is still just a simple story it therefor doesn't need deep and complex characters with deep and complex characters arc to pull it off as sometimes simpler is better but I really will it that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is comedy that really does mean that I have to actually about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very fil well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With this film having alot of painfully funny laugh out loud moments in it which was unexpected as I went into this film not really knowing anything about what kind of jokes that this film would have and yet from the second that we reason Lilo and Nani's home it hits right away that your going to be getting alot of slapstick humor and alot of jokes that would worked in the classic nineteen thirties to nineteen sixties era of Disney films as this film tells those same kind of jokes that worked really well in films like Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and Dumbo to name but a few with it being in the films jokes where the films animation gets to really shine as alot of what makes the jokes funny is the animation more importantly it's the facial expressions of the characters with the best example of this being the scene where Nani is trying to coach Lilo on what to say to the Social Worker as while things do start of well with Lilo saying that she and Nani live happily together and have a good life together things start to take a turn when Lilo starts misinterpreting what Nani is trying to signal making it sound like that Nani is a bad person with the thing that sells that joke is alot of Nani's facial expressions as that make joke so much more funnier then what it already was with the same thing also being true for alot of the other jokes that are in this very film as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall while Disney might have put all of their eggs into the Snow White live action remake it's the Lilo & Stitch remake that actually looks like it will turn a profit for Disney as that film looks like that it respects this film with this film being a fun and funny film that should get alot more love then what it already does as while it gets somethings wrong it gets so much more things right in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Disney fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great the official Disney fandom wiki page this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from the really great the official Disney fandom wiki page are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid the official Disney fandom wiki page really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.