Lilo & Stitch

A remarkable mixture of charm, absurdity -- almost to the point of surrealism -- and comedy, including a more than a few laugh-out-loud moments. Oddly, for a Disney movie, this outing obviously owes a lot to the work of Dr. Seuss; some of the alien characters owe much in their morphology to Seuss drawings, though that applies less to Stitch, the titular visitor. His human partner, Lilo, immediately earns the viewer’s warmth and admiration, displaying an unusual ability from her earliest on screen acts to combine sweetness and stubbornness -- often outright obnoxiousness -- in a way that packs a punch without ever making her unlikable. It’s a great balancing act upon which much of the movie’s success pivots. Stitch himself is not quite so lovable; the character is largely a blank at first, then comes across as a jerk -- and a destructive one at that, and more than just in the physical sense -- before finally, and somewhat astonishingly, achieving a transformation that makes the audience really care about whether or not it all works out. The supporting characters are a mixed bag; the humans are nicely developed and likable, while the aliens besides Stitch are somewhat one-note, a bit shallow in development, and oddly prone to shifting from good guy to bad without much justification. (It is worth giving a nod to the “blending in” efforts of the two principle aliens hunting the fugitive Stitch, which provide some of the best comedic visuals of the whole piece.) Finally, it’s a pleasure to mention that both the Hawaiian setting and the main (human) characters’ ethnic background are used to excellent effect here -- and, mercifully, because this film was made before woke madness took over the world, that is accomplished without everything turning into a vehicle for identitarian preaching. Lilo, Nani, and David just are who they are, and are not called upon to be standard bearers for anything else. That’s probably why most of this movie is so enjoyable. I’m sorry I missed this when it was new, and I’m so glad I had the chance to give it a look now. One of the best efforts of the “second tier” of the canon, and very much worth the viewer's time.