The Couch Critic
The Couch Critic is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critic brings thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critic
Stitch's Live-Action Letdown
Disney's live-action remake machine continues churning with their latest offering, Lilo & Stitch, and I have some strong thoughts about it. While box office numbers may tell one story, the heart of this Hawaiian tale seems to have gotten lost somewhere between animation and reality.
The 2002 animated classic captured something special - the raw, emotional bond between two sisters trying to stay together after losing their parents. "Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind" wasn't just a cute catchphrase; it was the emotional core that made the original resonate with audiences for over two decades. Unfortunately, this remake makes bewildering choices that undermine this central message, including a controversial ending where Nani leaves Lilo to attend college - essentially abandoning the very premise that made the original so powerful.
Despite bright spots like original Stitch voice actor Chris Sanders returning and some nice cameos from the 2002 voice cast, the film ultimately feels like a pointless exercise. Character changes feel arbitrary rather than meaningful, with Zach Galifianakis' Jumba missing the distinctive Russian accent that defined the animated character, and Nani suddenly aspiring to be a marine biologist without substantial development. After the disastrous Snow White remake, I had hoped Disney might course-correct, but this feels like another missed opportunity to either honor what made the original special or take the story somewhere genuinely new. Don't miss next week's episode where my wife and I review the final Mission Impossible film - was it a worthy send-off or a disappointing conclusion? Subscribe now and join us for new episodes every Saturday!
The weekend's here. It's time to unwind. Grab your snacks, leave the week behind. Blockbusters classics, they're all on the way. Let's kick it off with Cinema Saturdays.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, welcome to another Cinema Saturday episode. I'm your host, nathan of the Couch Critic, and on today's episode I'm taking on another Disney live action film. But before I talk about that, I want you to know that I'm bringing back the video aspect of this podcast. That's right, you can listen to Cinema Saturdays or you can watch Cinema Saturdays. I will be doing my best to release the video and the episode on the exact same day, but sometimes YouTube can be a little bit difficult at times, so that may or may not happen, depending on how long it takes to upload the video. But I just wanted to say I'm bringing the video back.
Speaker 2:So, without any further ado, let me talk about Lilo and Stitch. This movie is 23 years old. I didn't realize how old it was. Obviously it's not as old as Disney's last live-action remake, snow White, which we do not talk about at all because of how terrible it was. But Lilo and Stitch came out in 2002. That means it's 23 years old. It's crazy and, just like the cartoon, the synopsis is pretty much the same A lonely Hawaiian girl befriends a runaway alien helping to mend her fragmented family. Lilo and Stitch, the live-action version, stars Maya Keoloa, sidney Agudon and Chris Sanders, who voiced the original Stitch in the 2002 movie.
Speaker 2:So with Disney live action movies, I'm kind of cautiously optimistic and sometimes just cautiously cautious, especially after the abysmal Snow White, which I'm just going to say again, it was not Snow White, it was Tangled, and that's basically what it was. It was Tangled and it wasn't Snow White. So, going into this, I had already heard some things About this live action remake that may have made or break this movie for me, so let's just go right into my likes. The more I thought about it, the more I just got to thinking that there really wasn't much about this movie that I liked. It was basically almost a shot-for-shot remake of the animated film, with some obvious changes and some obvious character omissions that have been talked about on the internet for a while now. One big one is Captain Gantu, who was the basically main villain in the live action movie played by Zach Galifianakis. So let me just talk about that. Since I can't really talk about much that I liked about the movie, let me just talk about the things I did.
Speaker 2:Action movies are missing a lot of the heart and a lot of the emotion that made the cartoons what they are and why they stand as Disney classics, just like when my wife and I went to go see Beauty and the Beast. Almost right away when I got home I watched the animated Lilo and Stitch, and it does not need a remake at all. It just doesn't need it. And that's what a lot of these Disney live action remakes are. They just are cash grabs. And apparently this one's working because it's doing extremely well in the box office. They've already talked about doing a sequel, and so it's obviously doing well.
Speaker 2:I can't really say much about that. I guess families are just going out in droves to support this film Again after Snow White. It could only do better than Snow White, and it is. It's doing really, really well in the box office, unfortunately, because, like I said, this movie was missing a lot of the heart and soul of the cartoon, the whole Ohana. You know, ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind. Well, this has already been talked about on the internet, so I'm just going to tell you anyway Spoiler alert, spoiler alert. So at the end of the movie, nani decides to go off to college and leave Lilo with her neighbors, and this is creating a lot of controversy because it kind of negates the whole point of what ohana means. Now I know in this movie they kind of broadened the meaning, meaning the island was family, everyone on the island was a part of this ohana. But in the movie itself lilo and nani only had each other as their family and so that close-knit relationship of those sisters it was the heart and soul of the cartoon. And to kind of broaden that kind of cheapens their relationship a little bit to go with the whole. You know, independent, strong female character in this remake. So nani goes off to college and apparently she steals one of their little teleporter guns and that's how she's able to spend time with lilo again, it cheapens the whole relationship in my opinion. And it kind of takes away the fact that she had this passion for surfing. They kind of teased about a little bit how she becomes a surfer instructor, but she just surfing is her thing. You know, in the cartoon you see that she has medals and trophies, so it's a passion of hers. I don't understand why they took away the passion and maybe they could have just stuck with that and that's why can't she just be a surfing instructor and that be her peace and her happiness and she can stay with her sister and keep that Ohana together, because they talk about that's what their parents talked about all the time and of course, they dive a little bit deeper into what happens to their parents. Their parents tragically died before the movie started and so that's why they're together started and so that's why they're together.
Speaker 2:I did think it was cool. Okay, going to some of my likes, I did think it was cool. They had some of the original voice people in this movie. They had the original nani, they had the original david and they have the uh well, not the original, but uh, a character that was in the cartoon. She plays a much bigger role the neighbor in this film. So I thought that was cool that they brought them in and had them actually play characters, not just small little cameo parts. I thought that was kind of cool. I also they kind of dumbed down the character of David a little bit Again. They kind of elevated Nani to this marine biologist wanting to be a marine biologist character, which, okay, but she never really talked about marine biology the entire film really, and so it kind of came out of nowhere. And, going back, what I originally was talking about was Jumba. Is that Galifianakis playing this character.
Speaker 2:One thing I don't like is when they take a character that you know and love and you're used to it sounding and being a certain way and then it just in the live action it just comes off as just zach galvanakis's voice and that's what jumbo was, and in the cartoon he was russian and his accent was just part of his character. You know, it kind of emphasized the I guess you know be stereotypical but emphasize the whole mad scientist persona of his character and to take that accent away kind of was it made it boring. It just made it sound like Zach Galifianakis talking and that's all it was. So that was kind of annoying to me and yeah, it just it just came off as really boring and again, is just like the cartoon. They, you know they hit a lot of the same marks.
Speaker 2:I did think it was cool that had Chris Sanders, the original voice of Stitch, come back to play Stitch. I thought, thought that was cool. But again, the fact that you can go home and watch this cartoon and have more feeling and emotion and invest in the characters a lot more than a live-action remake it's just it makes it really pointless to me. So I mean congratulations to Disney for doing well with this movie. You know they really took a hit with Snow White, and a lot of Disney movies nowadays have been a lot of misses, and so congrats to them for doing well. But I just thought this was a big miss. I just think it was pointless, just like all these remakes are. And I know if my sisters are listening to this they're probably shaking their head and saying yes, that's why we. So those are my thoughts on the live action Lilo and Stitch.
Speaker 2:On this Cinema Saturday. Next Cinema Saturday is the first Cinema Saturday of June, and my wife and I are going to be talking about the final Mission Impossible movie. Was it a good send-off or was it just a big snore fest? You'll find out. And the first Couch Critic episode of June is Katie and I talking about the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I cannot wait to talk about that. On the Couch Critic, where every movie gets its close-up.
Speaker 1:So grab a seat, let the credits play. We'll see you next for Cinema Saturdays.
