Review – Lilo & Stitch

It’s been awhile since I watched a feature-length Disney animation, but this one strikes me as somewhat different from the ones I’ve seen in the past. Sure, the basic plot structure is pure Holy Rodent Empire: a talented little girl raised by her sister and snubbed by her peers befriends a hostile life form from outer space who turns out to be a cuddly yet mischievous source of much physical comedy. And for what it’s worth, when the movie’s busy being cute or funny it does an excellent job. Trouble is, the movie also spends a lot of time placing its characters in awful peril or leaving them to bemoan their various misfortunes. There’s also a good deal more combat than most Disney outings featured in the past, particularly firearms-related violence that seemed like it would be more at home in a video game than in a children’s movie. Though I’m usually not squeamish about such things, it just seemed out of place in a picture that otherwise did such an outstanding job of being genuinely charming. In short, the funny parts are funny, the cute parts are cute, but the action and the depressing stuff are more than a bit of a bummer and take up far too much screen time. Mildly amusing