Stitchpossible: The right kind of action and cuteness combo.

Riot’s Reviews: The Stitchpossible Weekend

Springtime is quickly coming to an end and the blockbuster list is already starting to get a little crowded. As I mentioned in my less-than-favorable review of Disney’s Snow White, I thought the live action remake worth waiting for was going to be Lilo & Stitch. The previews looked promising and the animation appeared true to the original content, but the risk always remains. And after giving a strong review to Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, I was similarly worried about how the storied career of Ethan Hunt was going to wrap up. So how did this edition of Riot’s double-feature weekend hold up?

 Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning : Y’all know I like to start with the worst of whatever group I’m reviewing and unfortunately, Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning is the weaker of the two. Of course, it’s an apples to oranges comparison because of the styles/genres of the films. But as I saw it, both movies were slightly marred mainly by their storytelling more than any other element. So why did The Final Reckoning merit a worse score? I think because the events of this film’s story didn’t do the set up justice. Sadly, it would be “impossible” (lol) to explain why without spoilers. Final Reckoning had a bad guy issue and played out like an ill-informed audible in the writer’s room that no one was able to properly wrangle. It made the events convoluted and more confusing than they needed to be. Even though that’s partly a staple of the MI stories, it seemed particularly egregious in this film. Complicating this further, the writing/dialogue leaned into that recent and frustrating Hollywood trope of characters over-explaining the events of the story. If it sounds contradictory to say that a story was confusing, but the characters over-explained it, you are correct! And that’s pretty much what made it so annoying to me.

The contradictions continue with this next point because somehow, they came up with a mission that is so far beyond the pale of what is humanly possible that I couldn’t help but groan at multiple points. Looking back at the series, anyone could point to previous moments that pushed too far beyond what is believable (the atrocious MI:2 was full of them). But as a person who spent an inordinate amount of time in water, humanity has limits. What Ethan (Tom Cruise) and his ever expanding team are capable of doesn’t maintain any consistency across the films or even in this one on its own. Shuffling through plot devices like a deck of cards is a bad idea, always. Beyond that, Final Reckoning tries and fails pretty badly at trying to loop all the previous film’s storylines into its events and ends up just shoe-horning plot points into places they don’t belong. Of course, this is supposed to be an homage to the franchise and all the work Cruise has done in them, but clip shows are reserved for Television as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think they work well in films.

Now, all this being said, I would still recommend people go see this movie. Reviving the contradictory statements, Final Reckoning delivers on the impossible mission and the action sequences are so innovative and so awe-inspiring that they have to be seen to be believed. The entire underwater sequence is a visual masterpiece as far as I’m concerned and the practical effects/stunts that went into it are spectacular. The fight choreography is exceptionally strong throughout and the scenery/cinematography/visuals are absolutely fantastic. The only thing more jaw dropping than Cruise’s aerial stunts on the biplanes is the scenery of their flight paths. The score/music is incredible and is a perfect boost to the tension of the story. The film is bolstered by very strong performances throughout, particularly from Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, and Angela Bassett. I didn’t really take issue with any of the acting across the board, but the scope of the characters involved got out of hand quickly. There wasn’t nearly enough time to get emotionally involved with the vast majority of them. At the end of the day, Cruise proves once again why he might be Hollywood’s last, true movie star and while I would argue it’s not the perfect send off for Ethan Hunt, I’d say it’s not bad enough to miss.

Riot’s Rating: 8/10: It’s a slightly egregious two hour and forty-nine minute runtime, so y’all may want to wait for this to be available on streaming to break it up into two viewings. But the scope of the stunts and the exceptional music are something that is best appreciated in the theater. A lot less talky and a lot more shooty would’ve done major service to this film. I still have a great time.

Lilo & Stitch: I love the original Lilo & Stitch. It has so many positive elements that all coalesce into a single, hard to top, Disney movie: adorable protagonists, relaxing/relieving music (Elvis and traditional Hawaiian), stunning watercolors, and strong values of friendship, commitment, and family. It was only natural to be worried about how the live action would turn out and my worries weren’t totally unfounded. I’ve written about creative licensing ad nauseum so y’all know my stance on this and Lilo & Stitch falls partial victim to the risks that are taken by these changes. The adjustments to the plot, mainly the addition of some characters that didn’t appear in the original and the personal motivations of Nani (Sydney Agudong) do a bit of a disservice to how everything plays out. Much like how The Big Bang Theory dismantled Raiders of the Lost Ark, the entire plot is made a bit nonsensical by the change.

As an aside from this, the recasting of Jumba (Zack Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) and the extra, almost inordinate, amount of time that was given to their antics was a big miss for me (and I really like Zack, too). It made sense to alter the story’s villain, I’m just not certain it was executed properly. And as a final point to my nitpicks against the pair, animation-wise, they were by far the worst translation from cartoon to live action. The creators also took the mischief of Stitch maybe a smidge too far. While true to the character before his adaptation to family life, much of the extra trouble they had Stitch get into began to get grating, more than what his very cute smile/laughter could cover up.

That’s all I could really come up with in terms of the negatives, because I can finally say that I sincerely enjoyed a Disney live action remake. They nailed the animation (except for you know who) as far as I’m concerned and the vast majority of aliens that were “brought to life” were a dead ringer for their 2D counterparts. While it feels a little rushed, the intro sequence for Stitch’s incarceration and inevitable escape were done incredibly well. Disney released new editions of the original songs and they were just as fun and pleasing to the ear as they were the first time around. I thought it was a great choice to get original voice actors (Tia Carrere and Amy Hill) playing roles in the film and I was happy to see Disney continue with the plotline/comedic relief/love interest in David (Kaipo Dudoit). And finally, they really found a crown jewel in Lilo (Maia Kealoha). She embodied the character in all the right ways and brought all the energy, innocence (and mischief), and spirit to the role. The adorable lead has a long career ahead of her as far as I’m concerned.

Why should you go see Lilo & Stitch though? Besides the fact that damn near everyone has already (the movie cleared more cash in two days than Snow White did for its entire run), the movie holds on tight to the spirit of the original, emphasizing the beyond important lesson of preserving family, friendship, and all the sacrifices that come with that responsibility. It’s laden with heartwarming moments and valuable, teachable content and preserves the innocence of the original film. I think the issues with the plot points don’t detract from the message and leaves the audience with a reminder to hold those you love close and do everything you can to never let go.

Riot’s Rating: 8.8/10: The theater was filled with families, kids, laughter and some tears. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s sweet and loveable to its core (and so cute and fluffy! Lol). Take the kids and have a great time.