Lilo & Stitch a bland do-over, The Assessment presents a disturbing dystopia

In this live-action adaptation of the beloved 2002 Disney animated film, six-year-old Native Hawaiian girl Lilo (Maia Kealoha) lives with her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) following their parents' death.

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LILO & STITCH (PG) 108 minutes, opens on May 22 ★★★★☆

The story: When a fugitive extraterrestrial created by Dr Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis) crash-lands on Earth, Lilo adopts the blue creature from an animal shelter, believing it to be a dog, and names it Stitch (Chris Sanders).

This remake of the cherished story about two outcasts finding each other unfortunately treats the original's most compelling elements as blemishes to be scrubbed away.

The science-fiction thrills and genuine sense of danger have vanished. Also missing are the memorable songs and scenes depicting Stitch as nearly demonic in his destructive impulses.

The once-chaotic alien is now merely high-spirited, transformed from an uncontrollable force of nature into something resembling a poorly parented child needing discipline.

The zany 2002 film understood that children's movies need breathing room, pauses that allow audiences to experience a child's wonderment as the world reveals its secrets.

This frantic do-over never slows down to allow such moments, instead desperately filling every second with jokes that feel blandly anachronistic, as if written by defrosted 1980s sitcom writers.