Disney's Lilo & Stitch live-action movie suffers fresh blow as devastating reviews roll in from critics
Disney's live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch has been panned by critics ahead of its theatrical release, with blistering reviews branding it a 'monstrosity' which 'deserves to be forgotten.'
The new film, which is set to hit cinemas on May 23, comes over two decades after the original animation and follows an alien monster (Stitch) who accidentally ends up on Earth after escaping from his creator.
Two aliens named Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) head to Earth to hunt him down, while a Hawaiian girl name Lilo (Maia Kealoha) adopts him believing that he's a dog.
While Disney fans have already threatened to 'boycott' the movie after a shocking new detail emerged, reviews from critics might also cause a lull in ticket sales if they're anything to go by.
In its damning one star review, The Guardian didn't mince its words as critics called 'Disney's latest unnecessary remake a monstrosity,' while the AV Club urged viewers to 'leave behind this dreadful take on Lilo & Stitch.'
As the reviews continue to roll in, FEMAIL takes a closer look at what the critics are saying about Lilo & Stitch.
The Guardian
Folks at The Guardian claimed Disney might have gone 'too far' with its live action of Lilo & Stitch - awarding it just one star out of five.
In their no-holds-barred review, they said: 'The 2002 film can stand comfortably alongside superficially similar but tonally distinct children's stories like ET, The Iron Giant, and My Neighbor Totoro.
'Now, however, Lilo & Stitch steps forward from that crowd of modern classics – as the only one whose keepers didn't bother to protect it from a cheap branded knockoff.'
AV Club
Similarly, AV Club pleaded with cinemagoers to 'forget and leave behind this dreadful take on Lilo & Stitch.'
'None of these imagination-limiting films have been good,' they wrote.
'Almost all of them have been terrible. The only piece of optimism one can find around this godforsaken trend is that they are, finally, making less money at the box office.
'One can only hope that they're on their way out. "Ohana'" might still mean "family," but this Lilo & Stitch deserves to be left behind — and forgotten.'
The Wrap
While The Wrap argued that Disney's latest live-action remake 'may be pointless,' they have insisted that it's 'also not bad.'
'Disney has produced worse live-action remakes of their beloved films,' they said.
'A lot worse. Oh God, so many of them are worse. Some of them are only slightly better than getting stabbed in the eyes. (I'm looking at you, Robert Zemeckis's "Pinocchio.")
'But this new "Lilo & Stitch" gets the job done. It's just a job nobody needed to do.
'It's like hiring a body shop to fix a brand new car, so the mechanics can only justify their paycheck by denting the fender themselves and then knocking it back in place.
'It's not the filmmakers' fault they dinged it. Disney couldn't tell what they had was perfect to begin with.'
The Telegraph
The Telegraph gave Lilo & Stitch a lukewarm review in which they hit out at Disney for remaking 'taming' its 'most feral character.'
As they graded it three out of five stars, they said: 'Ohana means family, as the first film memorably explained, which in turn means no one gets left behind.
'This new Lilo & Stitch allows that moral to double as commercial motto: in the wake of the Snow White debacle, no prospective customers are going to feel alienated by anything here, from the aliens down.
'That makes it feel more like a product than its predecessor did, but at least it's a sturdily built one.'
Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter reckons that Lilo & Stitch will do well at the box office - despite not being a highly ranked Disney film.
They said: 'In both incarnations, Lilo & Stitch is not in the first rank of Disney family films, as evidenced by the fact that this remake was originally slated to go direct-to-streaming.
'But that should hardly matter, with this version likely to clean up at the box-office at the start of the busy summer season.'
Indie Wire – Grade C Plus
Another unimpressed review came from IndieWire, who said that 'despite good intentions, this live-action remake proves why animation is better.'
'The heart of this story remains firmly intact, but there's something about seeing it rendered in live-action that takes away its inherent magic,' they said.
'It's harder to fall into, much tougher to lose yourself in. Maybe we can never quite recreate the dreaminess of an original story, but there's something to be said for remembering what it feels like to be caught inside that sort of bubble, and not crash-landed back on Earth.'
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