Lilo & Stitch (2002)

“Lilo & Stitch” eschews classic Disney fairy tale foundations for an irrelevant slap-stick film about a Hawaiian girl (Lilo) who adopts a dog that is actually a spastic blue alien fugitive from space (Stitch). Lilo is a friendless girl being raised by her older sister, both orphaned after a car accident killed their parents. The sisters need no more stresses in life, but Stitch is nothing but stress – he destroys, eats and flattens everything and everyone in his path. Will this demon Smurf calm his soul? Zzz. The feel of the 2-D hand-drawn art is groovy water color paints and all cool tones. Yet this plays like a long Saturday Morning Cartoon that stumbled into theaters, with flat characters (sorry, Stitch is no “E.T.”) and ho-hum musical filler. Most Disney animated films leave me walking on sunshine for days. “Lilo” never gets my -- or its -- feet off the ground. B-