Lilo & Stitch 2 : Hawaï, nous avons un problème !

The original "Lilo and Stitch" was a wonderfully offbeat tale that took me by surprise (and even drove me to tears at the end!); the movie's take on the relationship between motherless Lilo (voiced by Dakota Fanning) and an accidental extraterrestrial visitor named Stitch was surprisingly compelling. This sequel is lighter, less spectacular fare--cute, not overly deep--but still entertaining. The story has Lilo entering a Hula competition...just as Stitch's circuits are beginning to go haywire, leading to a fair share of comic mischief and an ending that, once again, almost made me cry (for this, I give the movie an additional star).

The first time I saw Disney's original, theatrically released "Lilo & Stitch" from 2002 was near the end of 2006, after it had spawned three direct-to-video sequels and a TV show. The first of the sequels was "Stitch! The Movie" from 2003, which I haven't seen yet, but 2005's "Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch" takes place before that one. I thought the original film was great the first time I saw it, but when I watched it again in 2009, I thought it was no more (and no less) than pretty good. I was hesitant to watch any of the sequels after that, knowing from experience that these direct-to-video sequels from Disney usually aren't very good. Approximately a year and a half after last watching the original, I've finally watched this "Lilo & Stitch" sequel, and can say that I have most certainly seen worse animated Disney sequels.

Stitch now lives with Lilo and Nani in their Hawaiian home, as do two other extraterrestrials, Dr. Jumba Jookiba and Agent Pleakley. As Lilo prepares for a local May Day festival hula contest, her mutant alien friend helps her, but he has a problem. When Jumba created the creature, he was arrested before he could finish charging the molecules of his mutant, so Stitch's molecules have never been fully charged, and he is now losing energy! This causes him to frequently turn evil and destructive again, wreaking havoc wherever he is, and if his molecules are not recharged soon, he will die! Jumba quickly gets to work on building a fusion chamber so he can save the result of his illegal genetic experimenting before it's too late, but as he attempts to create this machine, Lilo and Stitch continue their preparation for the competition, and as they do so, Stitch's frequent bouts of evil continue and obviously don't help! This threatens Lilo's chance of success in the contest, and also threatens her relationship with her alien pet, as she doesn't realize that the trouble he is now causing is not his fault!

The 2002 animated Disney flick features some great animation with its tropical backgrounds, and fortunately, that's also the case with this 2005 sequel. In the original film, I didn't find Lilo and Nani to be the most well-crafted characters in the history of animated Disney features, and that's still the case in "Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch", but they still have their redeeming qualities in both films. Stitch is still cute and lovable here, just like he is in the original "Lilo & Stitch". I don't think I found as many funny parts in this third film in the franchise as I did in the first, since I only occasionally laughed or smiled, and the Jumba and Agent Pleakley characters didn't seem to amuse me quite as much as before. I thought it was really funny when Pleakley disguises himself as a woman in the first film, but it didn't really seem that funny to me when he does it again here, at least not the first time, though it can be funny when he gives Nani's boyfriend, David Kawena, romantic guidance, which involves his disguise. The story isn't the most fascinating one, as some parts can be a bit bland and the conflict Lilo has with several different characters isn't always that entertaining, nor is Lilo trying to prepare for the contest, but overall, it's definitely not a bad story. There are poignant moments later on in the theatrically released movie that started the franchise, and that's another thing this third film has in common with the first one.

This sequel could have been mediocre or slightly worse, since it is one of the many direct-to-video sequels to Disney animated features, and judging by the ones I've seen (a good number of them), it appears one can expect them to be at least somewhat lacklustre, and never live up to their theatrical predecessors. However, "Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch" turned out to be one of the above average features in this category, even if it's not very high above average. By the end of this particular direct-to-video release, I wasn't 100% sure about my 6/10 rating, especially due to the poignancy towards the end. It is a pretty short feature at just a little over an hour long, and I feel that if it were a bit longer, I just MIGHT have no choice but to give it a 7/10, even though that's the same rating I gave the original after I last watched it, and this film is not nearly as highly rated as that one. Regardless of your age, if you like the original "Lilo & Stitch", then I don't yet know about the second film in the franchise, but this third one, while it could be much better, is probably at least not one you would absolutely hate.

I saw Lilo & Stitch 2 with my little brother while we were traveling in the car and I found that it was really good. It had a lot of funny moments in it and the ending had a really good message to it.

I thought that this movie would be kind of like Stitch the Movie which had the sole purpose of kicking off the series and not that great of a plot. I found however that the story was a lot better, they had some pretty good subplots to it, and it was both funny and poignant.

I would recommend this movie for many people, though it does have an appropriate "PG" rating, but I only give it eight out of ten stars because it just wasn't good enough to get the tenth star.

Lilo and Stitch was a nice surprise when i rented it out one day. It didn't look like your average Disney flick. It had a twisted reality to it, and what better combination than to have aliens from outer space and hula dancing Hawaiian girls? Surfice to say I bought Lilo and Stitch the next day! To me the film ended too quickly. But thats the problem with an origin film, even as the creators say in the audio commentary "they didn't want it to end and wanted to show the true Pelekai family life that followed" so thats why they did that wonderful end credits with the snapshots. But to me it wasn't enough. The creators must have thought so too, which is why Lilo and Stitch 2 is basically a small story about their daily lives and struggles. Nothing so dramatic, no antagonists, just family problems.. And it works brilliantly, finally getting to see how Lilo and Stitch work together as true family members. The story has a nice flow, showing the good and bad moments that would frequently affect such a "Ohana" as Lilo's. The highlight is Lilo's desire to be like her Mum and win the May Day Hula contest. Lilo bases her Hula on an ancient Hawaaiian story of a goddess and a handsome mortal, not realising that the events of the tale is slowly unfolding in her own life. Lilo is too busy asking Stitch to try and behave and help her, she neglects to try and help Stitch who clearly has a bigger problem. What follows is a truly heart wrenching moment in the entire Lilo and Stitch saga! And the same old animation from the first film really does the final scene in the film justice! Plus, you forget Dakota is Lilo! She's a perfect alternative. A must see for all Lilo and Stitch fans.

Definitively better than 'Stitch! The Movie', though 'Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch' is still a pretty disappointing sequel.

The premise is uneven, everything involving Stitch and his glitch is actually quite good. However, they drag that out in order to add some stuff with Nani/David and Lilo herself, all of which isn't at all interesting; though there is, at least, a bit of heart in the way Lilo's storyline ends.

Speaking of Lilo, Dakota Fanning replaces Daveigh Chase in the role. Fanning is solid if a little more wooden, Chase's voice feels more natural. Chris Sanders gives an amusing performance as Stitch, while none of the others stand out all that much.

Still way inferior to 2002's 'Lilo & Stitch', but thankfully it doesn't turn into pure toilet viewing like many other straight-to-video sequels from this studio.