Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch Movie Review

While I somehow missed Stitch: The Movie, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch stands as the second direct-to-video sequel to the strangely popular Lilo & Stitch theatrical film. Fortunately, Lilo & Stitch 2 occurs chronologically between the two films, so even if, like me, you haven't seen this Stitch movie, you won't miss what is sure to be the nuance and deft symbolism of this film.

To bring you up to speed, young Lilo (Dakota Fanning) lives with big sister Nani (Tia Carrere) in their Hawaii home. Not only does alien Stitch live with them, but so does his "evil" creator and a one-eyed alien named Pleakley. The quintet gets by just fine, with Nani trying to play mom and Lilo trying to get ahead in the world of competitive hula, only now it turns out that Stitch didn't get "his molecules fully charged" when he was created, so he starts going a little crazy. (You can tell by the green eyes that appear at the worst possible moment.) Evil scientist tries to build a machine to "recharge" him, but will it be too late?

With lesser-known Elvis musical numbers (a hallmark of the original film) and a brisk 62-minute running time, there isn't a whole lot of time to worry about any failings in the plot. It's a fairly straight-up run to the end, with the only real asides from the Stitch story involving Nani's spurious love affair and Lilo's search for a theme for her next hula competition. (This does give the film its best line: "So Elvis is telling me to do a hula... about a chicken." To which Stitch replies (he can now talk fairly well): "Uh, no he isn't.")

As a parent, I'm not sure I can get behind a story that tells us that love can conquer anything -- even bringing the dead back to life -- but my two-year old sat through most of the movie without complaint. In the end, she didn't care much about the side plots. She just liked the hellraising alien, of course.

As for me, I'm looking forward to the next film, when Lilo and Nani have to turn to crime when they fall on hard times: Lilo & Stitch: Lilo Has a Kilo.