Lilo & Stitch

Rating:
Summary: Pure gold, though not for everyone...
Review: Ah, Lilo & Stitch, the movie that answers the question "What would happen if George Lucas, Hayao Miyazaki, and Joe Dante all collaborated on a film. Lilo & Stitch takes on the old idea of "child befriends strange creature" and gives it a refreshing and quirky twist. Sort of like taking E.T. and replacing E.T. with one of the creatures from Gremlins. All in all, "L & S" does not remind me of a Disney film. It seems more like something that either Warner Brothers or Dreamworks would produce. I have seen quite a few negative reviews by the Disney "purists" out there complaining of its violence and lack of warmth. They miss the point! This is not supposed to be a typical syrupy musical puke-fest Disney typically has released in the last decade. Lilo and Stitch would really be recommended to fans of the nontraditional Buena vista releases such as "Nightmare before Christmas" and "Roger Rabbit" (both underappreciated films in my opinion) as well as the works of Miyazaki and the oldschool anime of Tezuka Osamu. (even the characters have Tezuka's familiar stumpy looking qualities) The story begins rather abruptly with no opening credits until about 10 minutes into the film. In a far off galaxy, a genetic scientist Jumba Jookiba is standing trial for illegally creating a genetic experiment which he calls "experiment 626". 626 was designed to be an indestructible weapon of mass destruction (even though he's only 3 feet tall, looks like a blue koala, and sounds like the Andy Kaufman character Latka). Most surprising about Lilo & Stitch is that most of the time, you can't be sure that you are actually watching a Disney movie. The film is notably violent by Disney standards and most of the humor can be quite dark at times. Most noticeable is the absence of traditional Disney musical numbers and cute anthropomorphic animals. Stitch is a cute alien, but he is also hell-bent on destruction for about the first third of the movie. As far as Disney films go, Lilo & Stitch has to be one the most realistic I have ever seen. Lilo's character is the most realistic portrayal of a child in a Disney animated feature. She is not excruciatingly cute for cuteness sake and she actually behaves like a real child. She (nor any other character) is allegorical and is not completely good or bad. Each character has their flaws. Lilo can be a brat and she can be mean to others but she always tries to love her sister and Stitch. She always has the patience to put up with Stitch's destructive behavior. Interestingly enough, she also seems to be the moral center of the film. When her sister Nani has had enough of Stitch's unpredictable behavior, she threatens to throw him out. Lilo has to remind her that even though Stitch is less than admirable, he is still family and repeats the movie's catchphrase "family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten". Stitch, even though from the beginning is a destructive little demon, he evolves throughout the film. He learns about having a family, something he has never had. He was genetically created with no greater purpose other than to be a one-alien wrecking crew. As he continues to destroy, he finds out that nobody likes him because of that, eventually even Lilo, the one who saved him from being captured by his creator. During the second-third of the film he goes through a massive inner conflict between his genetic programming to destroy and his discovery that he could serve a greater purpose and that he is actually loved (at least by one person). The Elvis soundtrack is a delicious change of pace instead of musical numbers and the songs of the king are often used for amusing montages. This is also one of the funniest Disney films I have ever seen. Lilo gets all of the best lines with her deadpan and childlike innocence in her delivery of her bizarre and sometimes disturbing humor. Meanwhile, Stitch gets all of best visual gags and physical humor. Some of the funniest moments are: Stitch frequently becoming frustrated and destroying everything he touches, the Elvis montage where Lilo teaches Stitch to become a model citizen like her hero Elvis Presley, some of Lilo and Nani's sisterly quarrels (they fight like real siblings), the exchange of dialogue in a scene where Stitch and Jumba toss back and forth a plasma cannon that is about to explode, and Stitch driving a gas truck into a volcano to use the explosion to propel him like a jet pack. The jokes and gags come fast and furious throughout the first 40 minutes and reaches an arc of melodrama in the middle followed by the funny and action-packed final third.
Ultimately, Lilo & Stitch is a story about acceptance, redemption, and redefining the concept of family. This film takes the outdated 50's concept of the nuclear family, throws it out the window and replaces it with the more modern and realistic concept of "family is where the home is".

Rating:
Summary: Real (and Good)
Review: Get this DVD and watch it, twice. It's worth it. The story is charming, emotional, and real to life. People find that they can change, that they have a place in life, even if it's not the same place as everyone else.

It's real Hawaii, the wonderful, traditional, somewhat anti-tourist place that I remember.

It's scientific fantasy without the endless laser blasts, a family story without the so-called "traditional" family, a love story that includes arguing... In short, it mirrors the lives we lead, but the mirror is forgiving.

Quite a lot for an animation!

And of course, it's full of the King of Rock and Roll, and that ain't bad.

You will read some review here that pan the movie because it features a less than idyllic family scene. My response is, thank goodness! I want the audience to raise it's hands if they've never EVER argued with a sibling...Good, no hands.

Great movie. A keeper.

Rating:
Summary: Disney is back!
Review: This is a dilightful movie. After a string of disapointing films from Disney, Lilo and Stitch again shows us that Disney is a wonderful movie making company. This heartwarming tale of two sisters and their "dog" is refreshing and charming. The story is one of family and acceptance. The movie is both warm and funny. Seeing Stich's Elvis impersonations are well worht the entire film. Still, this movie has a delightful message. The dvd is well made. Don't be fooled by the extras however. The Stitch story throughout the history of Disney is cute but very short and not all it could be. The deleted scenes are in pre-production format and not that interesting. Still the movie alone is worth the purchase.

Rating:
Summary: A Review Of Lilo and Stitch
Review: This was such a funny movie! I saw the previews for it on T.V. and thought it would be a dumb movie. A friend and I went to see it and it was so good! It's about a Hawaiian girl named Lilo who is lonely and depressed because she doesn't have any friends. Her sister, Nani, lets her adopt Stitch, who they think is a dog. Stitch is really an alien from another planet. He lands on earth and is taken in by Lilo. Two other aliens are after Stitch, a.k.a-Experiment 6-2-6. These two aliens are Jumba, who built Stitch to be indestructuctable and to destroy everything and Pleakly, who is the expert on Earth and has a thing about mosquitoes, which he thinks are an endangered species. Nani is trying to keep Lilo from being taken away by the social worker, Cobra Bubbles. She loses her job because of Stitch and can't find another because of Stitch. Meanwhile Stitch is trying to be a model citizen. Things don't get any better, because Cobra Bubbles wants to take Lilo away. She and Stitch get trapped in a spaceship, but Stitch escapes and has to rescue Lilo. This is a very cute movie, especially with the love for Elvis. Buy it today!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: The best disney movie since The Lion King
Review: Since the Lion King every disney movie (except pixar) was rusehd for me. Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Noter Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan and Atlantis were very unlike disney. I was beginning to think that disney was dying until this movie came out. I was so amazed at the amount of effort they put into this film. I thought this was going to be a cartoony piece of junk, but o boy was I wrong. The movie had everything. Drama, Action and Comedy. And the way the studied hawaii was also amazing. I especially like Lilo's tempertantrums and fights with stich and lilo. I also though stich was so adorable. I thought he was int he movie just to cause trouble, but he turned out to actually speak english and was quite lovable. The only thing that I didn't like about this movie was that it didn't have a really good villain.

Rating:
Summary: Deeply Disappointed
Review: I have just seen the DVD and I can't believe that so many liked this film. The characters are very hard to like and the constant violent behavior (with no consequences) was shocking. The inconsistencies in the story really ruin it. Please rent this movie before buying it; I wouldn't have it in the house, myself.

Rating:
Summary: Hateful & meanspirited trash
Review: I was shocked at the way the Lilo character was dipicted in this sickening film from Disney.

First off, Lilo brutally beats a little girl mercilessly simply because she disagrees with her.

Then, her older sister jay-walks then kicks a car and throws an insult at the driver for no reason.

Next, we see Lilo living in a house of pure filth and her older sister leaves the stove on while she's not at home. It saddened me to see Lilo's older sister threaten violence against Lilo and then Lilo responds with horrid insults against her sister.

This is a very disturbing image of what Disney calls "an alternative family". This film has absolutely no redeeming value can not teach your child anything about life that he or she couldn't already learn from the gutter...

Rating:
Summary: I hate Disney, but I LOVE Lilo & Stitch!!
Review: I've always shied away from Disney...maybe cause Bambi and Dumbo always made me cry as a kid (I was born in '73), and because I felt like Disney was lately (80's on) going for a very simplistic kind of plotline, with average animation (do all the girls have to have huge, doe-like, eyes?).
With Lilo & Stitch, a very real, very human plotline comes to life. Lilo and Stitch are basically outcasts (I've always loved the 'underdog' role) who aren't sure where they fit in, in their respective (human, and alien) societies. They have the same misfit outlooks on life, and when Stitch is banished from alien society (the product of a 'mad genetic scientist'), he at first lives up to his reputation of being a character of destruction...but soon becomes a 'lost soul' of sorts...searching for a family to call his own...there are references to the 'Ugly Duckling' story...which I always had a very soft spot for in my youthful heart, and remember crying a lot over this little story...a lost little being looking for acceptance...this is the heart and soul of Lilo & Stitch...
If you find yourself rooting for an underdog, with a little bit of bad manners, this is the story for you. I found myself rooting, laughing, cheering for both characters...there is no finer movie to lift the spirits and make one believe that the underdog can come up and blow everyone away!
And, I dare say, that little Stitch is the cutest animation to come along since Roger Rabbit and Dumbo...truly precious!

Rating:
Summary: I'm not a Disney fan or an Elvis fan_but_
Review: I thought this was a great film. Lilo is a lonely Hawaian girl, who feeds peanut butter sandwiches to fish, bites and fights another girl and makes friends with experiment 626, a being that is made only for destruction by a "mad genius" on another planet.

Experiment 626, of course, is Stitch, who manages to pass himself off as a dog so Lilo and her sister/caretaker Nani, can adopt him. As if adopting an alien destructive force isn't bad enough, Nani must also deal with the social worker that is trying to assure that Lilo is being well take care of by Nani. (The parents have died before the movie starts, so kids are spared that part of the film.)

Aliens are dispatched from Turo to get Stitch back. Mr Bubbles, the social worker, is closing in on Nani, determined to remove Lilo from the home - if the aliens don't get her first. How this plays out and how it is all resolved is a lot of fun to watch, with very little of the terror that sometimes comes along with a Disney movie. (Remember Bambi's mom? I _still_do.)

The dvd has some nice extra features, some deleted scenes, some talks with the creator of the characters (Chris Sanders), how to hula and Wynonna doing an amazing job of singing Elvis (among other things).

This, in my opinion, is one of the best Disney films of all time. I'd advise buying this movie especially if you have a little one at home or you like animation.

Rating:
Summary: TOO MUCH SCREAMING
Review: I saw about 15 minutes of this movie at Wal-mart and I was convinced that I didn't want to see the whole thing. The sisters were fighting and screaming, slamming doors, etc. There were a few mild swear words as well in those 15 minutes. Not for me.
(plus the fact they have drawn the older sister with those low riding pants disgusted me). Disney is losing its grip on family entertainment so they are trying to push the envelope a bit.