Thrashbrowns v. Mouse House, Round 18

 Lilo & Stitch (2002)

The Story:

A life form created in an experiment to be a force of immense destruction crash-lands on Earth. He's adopted from a dog shelter by Lilo and her older sister/guardian Nani and given the name Stitch. The rest of the movie involves Lilo, Stitch and Nani becoming a family while dodging a host of aliens trying to drag Stitch back to space.

Has Thrashbrowns seen this? Why or why not?

I've seen the very beginning of the movie, thank as usual to my time spent hanging out at the comic book store with Clifton. That's right. The three people most responsible for what I know about Disney are my mom, my dad and Clifton.

Anyway, I've seen the start of the movie but not the whole thing.

The Good:

I love hand-drawn cell animation. It's got a life and soul that I just don't see in computer-generated animation, no matter how pretty that CG animation looks. So there's that.

I liked the line where Lilo's like "Oh, good. My dog found the chainsaw."

But my favorite thing about this movie is its depiction of Nani and Lilo's home life. It spotlights how difficult it can be to keep a family together, especially in the wake of the deaths of both parents. That was emotionally affecting and gave me something to chew on in the midst of all the slapstick violence and destruction.

The Bad:

The two things that bothered me the most: The jokes didn't work for me. I mean, the chainsaw line got a good chuckle and there were one or two other moments that got me to laugh. but for the most part, my funny bone remained un-tickled.

The second biggest thing that bothered me: The ending. The whole time, the movie sets up things, digging a deeper and deeper hole for Lilo, Stitch and Nani to dig out of. Then, the whole situation flips in like one scene. A scene that's so full of convenient revelations and plot contrivances that it's hard to engage with the feels. Cuz you're too busy rolling your eyes at how easy this whole situation was to straighten out. 

Most Annoying Disney-ism:

The comedic antagonists. Jumba and Pleaky are there to be a threat to our heroes, but they are even worse shots than the stormtroopers in Star Wars. Worse, their antics are supposed to be funny, but they're mostly annoying. Every time these two clowns were on screen, I was counting the seconds til their scene was over.

Does Thrashbrowns get why people dig this?

Yeah. It's got a cool sci-fi concept, even if the story comes perilously close to being E.T. The action scenes are zippy. Elvis is on the soundtrack. A couple of scenes, especially the one where Nani sings Aloha'Oe to Lilo, hit you right in the heart. And I guess Stitch is kinda cute, for an extraterrestrial engine of destruction. 

Did Thrashbrowns like it?

Meh. It's not a bad movie. It's got a number of heartfelt emotional moments and the message about being there for your family is resonant. But it lost me with Jumba and Pleaky. And, while I understand this movie was made for families with small children, the ending was just way too easy and convenient for me. Put it this way: Lilo & Stitch isn't a movie I'll complain about if I should find myself in an environment where it's playing. But it's not something I'll go out of my way to watch again, either.

Up Next:

TBA. I've done two animated movies in a row, so it will probably be something live-action.