'Lilo and Stitch' is fun Disney remake, but not without controversial changes

Remaking a beloved, highly stylized Disney classic about a Hawaiian girl and her pet alien is no easy feat. But as long as the film captures the humor and embraces the out-of-this-world concept within the realism of live action, it could be one of the better Disney remakes, though not without its flaws.

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

“Lilo and Stitch” follows the familiar beats of its 2002 animated predecessor. Experiment 626 (voiced once again by his original creator, Chris Sanders) is exiled for being a potential threat to the galaxy.

He evades his sentence and escapes to Earth, prompting the United Galactic Federation to offer freedom to his creator, Jumba (Zach Galifianakis), if he retrieves his rogue experiment, under the watch of quirky Earth enthusiast Pleakley (Billy Magnussen).

Crash-landing in Hawaii, 626 is adopted by a local girl named Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha), who renames him Stitch. Her older sister and legal guardian, Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong), reluctantly allows Stitch into their already unstable home, as she struggles to keep custody of Lilo amid increasing pressure from social services.

Stitch’s presence triggers suspicion from CIA agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance), while Jumba and Pleakley begin a chaotic chase to recapture the alien fugitive.