Jesus, what is this, now? The fourth "Lilo and Stitch" movie? This is getting crazy!
Well, thankfully, "Leroy & Stitch" is the last of these films,
and I say "thankfully" because it actually kinda goes out on a good note.
Ehh, that is to say for what it is.
I'm finding out more and more some of these direct-to-DVD sequels have to be taken for what they are.
For example, I'm gonna judge something like "Lion King 2", which is a direct sequel,
differently than I am "Tarzan and Jane", which is obviously just supposed to be a pilot for a TV show.
And, at the beginning of this one, you can very quickly see what it's supposed to be:
not a pilot for the TV show, but the ending of the TV show.
Now keep in mind I didn't watch the cartoon show, but I got the general gist:
Lilo and Stitch are going around, trying to collect all the other experiments, turn them good,
and stop the bad aliens from collecting them and taking over the universe.
Well, that's exactly where this movie starts off.
Lilo and her friends are being rewarded by the Intergalactic Council.
They're all given chances to do what they've always wanted to do, whether it be go back to their evil lab,
or be captain of their own spaceship, but Lilo admits that she's really gonna miss them and doesn't want them to leave.
They decide to stay behind, but she realizes she may have forced them to make the wrong choice,
and, thus, she finally says goodbye.
They all go their separate ways, but Hämsterviel, the villain of the last...
umm... kinda sequel... and the villain of the show escapes and makes a clone of Stitch.
An evil clone, of course, which makes a clone of that clone, and a clone of that clone,
and soon, there's an army of Leroys that want to collect all the experiments that were set free,
destroy them all, and, of course, get back to their evil plans of conquering the universe.
Much like the movie pilot, "Stitch", this film focuses again on the aliens, which are, once again, very funny.
Lilo is, once again, given a smaller role, but I feel they actually do have the emotional connection there.
For example, I really like that she becomes friends with Experiment 625,
or, as she now names him, Reuben. I like seeing these two work off each other.
I also really like seeing Hämsterviel and the captain of the guard still work off each other. They're still really funny.
And, unlike a lot of the Disney sequels, it actually builds up to a good climax.
You think it's gonna be another one of those abrupt happy endings where it's not really that big of a climax;
it's just kind of a tiny one because, hey, they don't have much of a budget, but no!
They whip out all of the clones of Leroy and have them battle all of the experiments I'm pretty sure that were in the show.
And all of them look different, and sound different, and have these unique powers, and...
Yeah! It's really creative! It's funny. It's energized. It's a lot of fun.
Now, granted, what ends up saving the day might be a little too silly... I don't know.
It's Lilo and Stitch. I get it, cutesy stuff, but the battle before was so much fun,
I kinda wish it would just keep going that direction, but that's nitpicking.
For what is basically a series finale to a show, it seems like it wraps up everything pretty damn good.
The original voice actress of Lilo is back.
Again, I'm not really sure why they switched 'em out, but it's great hearing her voice again.
The humorous scenes are genuinely humorous, and even the emotional scenes are kind of well done.
There's a really nice scene where everyone is saying goodbye, kinda going their separate ways,
and then, when Lilo has to say goodbye to Stitch, all you see is him looking at the "Ugly Duckling" book,
putting it away, and they just kinda sit there in silence.
That's... actually kind of profound. It's simple, but it works.
And maybe that's the best way to describe this: simple, but it works.
You can tell from the animation that this isn't gonna be the same cinematic quality of the first film
or "Lilo & Stitch 2", where they put a lot more money into it.
But, honestly, for the budget they had, I think they did a really good job.
Does it have the emotion of the first film? No. Is it gonna be remembered as much as the first film? No.
But, again, I don't think that's what it was meant to be.
It's supposed to be a wrap-up of "Lilo & Stitch", yes, but more the TV show than the films.
And, truth be told, this is a really fun sendoff.
I can't act like it's phenomenal, but, for what they had to do, I'd say it's pretty nicely accomplished.
Again, its one of the nice things of being forced to watch some of these movies:
I'm a "Lilo & Stitch" fan, but I never would've checked out the sequels
or these TV pilots if I didn't have to do this for a job, but, because I have to, I'm glad I checked 'em out.
While none of them quite capture the freshness or the emotion of the first one,
they come pretty close sometimes, and they were definitely entertaining throughout the majority of 'em.
Whether you enjoyed the cinematic side or the television side,
it's nice to know that, either way, Lilo and Stitch go out on top.