Tag: film review

Lilo & Stitch (2025) Movie Review

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Comparing the original Lilo & Stitch (2002) to the 2025 live-action remake.

First, a few thoughts on live-action remakes of classics:

  • Animation and live-action are two different art forms and should be treated as such. Some things can be achieved in animation that don’t translate into live-action and vice-versa.
  • A different art form necessitates changes.
  • Any remakes shouldn’t be carbon copies of the original but bring something new, the director’s own take while keeping the integrity and heart of the story alive.

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

★★★★

  • Growing up on Maui and being a local makes this movie incredibly important to me. It’s more than a part of my childhood. It’s a rare glimpse at local life on the islands. We have very few movies/tv that accurate represents the islands, without being about tourists vacationing.
  • There aren’t many big films that showcase Hawaiian Pidgin, it’s so comforting to hear the local dialect. “Kapu” meaning sacred, forbidden, or taboo written on a note against Lilo’s door.
  • This is one of Disney’s unique and original films, showcasing what they can achieve when they aren’t reusing the same old storyline but creating something wholly new.
  • Children from the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus sung for the Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride song.
  • Stitch driving all over Kauai and hitting water on every side of the island is the most relatable island experience.
  • Overall: It’s a fun and heartfelt film.

Lilo & Stitch (2025)

★★★

  • Pleakley looks like he’s gunk that came out of my nose. You can make live action without making them look hyper realistic and ugly…
  • UH Manoa has the best marine biology program, not San Diego…
  • I appreciate the inclusion of kama’aina in this and the conscious efforts to make this film a reflection of the islands.
  • They built off the original plot to tell a more dynamic story, but now it feels disjointed. The story no longer fits with the alien/Stitch parts. If they had not felt so tied to the original story, and they just told a story about two sisters who were learning how to continue after losing their parents, I think it would work better. There are some things that just doesn’t translate well from animation to live action, and a cuddly alien with groovy Elvis moves seems to be it. We can love stitch in animation.
  • Pleakley and Jumba attempt to bring some comedic relief, but only while in faux human form. Pleakley is no longer our dress-wearing gay icon. And Jumba has now become a villain.
  • The actors all did a great job, especially Maia Kealoha as Lily, Sydney Agudong as Nana, Amy Hill as their tutu, and Kaipo Dudoit as David. They all had a great dynamic on screen, loved the use of Pidgin in this like in the original animated feature. I wish there was more Pidgin throughout, but I’ll take what they give me.

‘Oppenheimer’ Review: An Explosive Experience

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★★★★★

This movie was absolutely phenomenal. Not many films can keep up the pacing and keep an audience entranced for 3 hours but Christopher Nolan did just that. The interwoven timelines seamlessly brought the story from Oppenheimer’s time as a student through to receiving the Enrico Fermi award. So many fascinating tidbits about Oppenheimer’s time as a student made it into the film, and there were nods to many well-known moments in his life.

I don’t think this film could have been anything less than 3 hours, Nolan brought in elements that made the story more enticing while grappling with the scientific genius and the immoral destroyer of a man. It was a tough line to toe but Cillian Murphy was up to the task and played the role brilliantly. The cast was star studded but not without reason, every face played their time with the camera even with some major actors have little to no lines or screen time.

The soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson is what truly made the movie shine, this film could not have been the directorial masterpiece that it is without that musical genius. The times when Nolan made the directorial choice for silence vs explosion were well-thought out and so appreciated. It’s all in the details.

However, Nolan missed the mark in two areas. The Hispanic community in New Mexico, specifically in and around Los Alamos, was not mentioned. When in truth families and the entire community was ran out of town when the military and Oppenheimer’s scientists came in to build the laboratory in the “desolate desert of New Mexico.” There were people whose lives were uprooted and who suffered from the nuclear weapons tests, and they should have been acknowledged in the film. 

Also, the film, while honing in on the scientific mastery of Oppenheimer and the following investigation into his background, shows Oppenheimer grappling with the idea of blood on his hands but doesn’t show the audience. There are moments when the audience feels the horrors and understands the horrifying reality that has just occurred. But that’s assuming the audience has known, background, and understanding of nuclear weapons. Which, as an international affairs scholar, I cannot assume every other viewer has the same background as I do. The film shows an artistic rendering of these horrors, makes mentions of radiation and body counts, but fails to show the audience a glimpse at the true horrors that atomic bombs leave behind. There is a worried that such an epic film showing the ashonishing feat of science won’t leave the viewer with the necessary feeling of deterance, especially in the current nuclear age. We are now closest to midnight on the doomsday clock (courtesy of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, depicting how close we are to total nuclear annihilation) than ever before, 90 seconds to midnight. Midnight being nuclear annihilation.

Overall, the film astounded me and I am thrilled so many folks are out to see it this weekend and this month. This type of film wouldn’t typically bring a large crowd as it’s more niche, but the fortuitous release alongside Barbie has brought many more folks to the cinema.