Family chaos and high-stakes espionage

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, May 23rd.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in it: what’s coming to theaters this Memorial Day weekend. Here’s Collin Garbarino on Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s latest Mission: Impossible movie.

COLLIN GARBARINO: This Memorial Day weekend, movie theaters are offering a couple of new films that could have broad appeal.

First up we have the live-action remake of Disney’s 2002 animated film, Lilo & Stitch. A film about a mischievous Hawaiian girl who adopts a chaotic space alien.

A.J.: Yeah, let’s put this one back, Lilo. You know, we do have better dogs. Like, way better.

LILO: Not better than him! He can talk. Say, “Aloha.”

STITCH: Alo—

TUTU: Dogs no can talk.

A.J.: Dogs can’t talk, Lilo.

STITCH: Ruff. Ruff.

Just like in the 2002 animated feature, Stitch is a dangerous science experiment whose ship crash lands in Hawaii. In order to blend in with his surroundings he gets himself adopted by six-year-old Lilo. Ever since their parents died, Lilo’s big sister Nani has been trying to keep their lives from falling apart. Lilo has her own behavior problems, and adding Stitch to the mix creates absolute mayhem.

DAVID: Lilo, how’s it going?

LILO: Look, David. I got a dog.

DAVID: You sure that’s a dog?

LILO: Mmm… yeah.

STITCH: Ruff

Besides Stitch’s unsuccessful attempts to fit in, the family has other problems. The United Galactic Federation has sent two agents to arrest Stitch and bring him home. Of course these two bumbling aliens prove even more inept than Stitch at navigating human society.

COUNCILWOMAN: Oh, brilliant. Is it too late to vaporize the planet?

ALIEN: Finger’s always on the trigger, ma’am!

COUNCILWOMAN: No, no! I’m joking!

This live-action film stays true to the spirit of the original, but it’s not a shot-for-shot remake, which I’m happy about. This new version gives Nani and Lilo more of a support network. It also creates a true villain for the film something the original lacked. And, Maia Kealoha, who plays Lilo, is exceedingly cute.

LILO: Hey, I changed my mind.

NANI: What’s that.

LILO: I like you as a mom too.

On the whole, this new Lilo & Stitch is a competent remake with nice tweaks, but it’s lacking some sparkle. Despite the lush beauty of Hawaii, the cinematography isn’t very… cinematic. The film still resembles the straight to Disney+ movie it was originally intended to be. Nonetheless, Lilo & Stitch will work for families who enjoyed the original and are looking to kick off the summer with some fun.

But Tom Cruise’s latest impossible mission may be the ticket for moviegoers looking for a little more action.

Tom Cruise in a scene from Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Associated Press / Paramount Pictures and Skydance

Mission: Impossible has long been one of my favorite franchises, so of course I was ready for the eighth installment Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning. The seventh film came out in 2023 and ended on a cliffhanger with super spy Ethan Hunt only completing the first step of his mission to destroy a dangerous artificial intelligence. The Final Reckoning completes that story, while serving as a capstone for the entire franchise.

KITTRIDGE: Everything you were. Everything you’ve done has come to this.

Since the last movie, the rogue A.I., known as the Entity, has become increasingly powerful. It’s corrupted all digital information, and humanity has lost confidence in the notion of truth. Angry crowds protest in the streets, and misinformation has exacerbated geo-political tensions. The situation becomes more dire when the Entity takes control of various countries’ nuclear arsenals. Who else can you call besides Ethan Hunt?

KITTRIDGE: When the need for certainty is absolute and the odds are deemed impossible, the mission falls to him.

BRIGGS: Should he choose to accept.

Previous Mission: Impossible movies each featured a self-contained mission that didn’t require the audience to know what happened in previous movies. That changes with this film. You had probably better go back and watch Dead Reckoning if you haven’t already. But this film doesn’t merely finish the story from the last installment. It doubles down on the interconnectedness of the Mission: Impossible universe.It’s complicated narrative encompasses plot points and characters from the entire franchise. The Final Reckoning ends up being a tribute to Mission: Impossible’s 30-year history. The film even offers a nod to Cruise’s Top Gun movies.

LUTHER: Our lives are the sum of our choices. This is your calling. Your destiny. I have no regrets.

This tribute has some nice moments, and Tom Cruise’s dedication to doing his own stunt work without the use of computer generated effects adds to the sheer spectacle of it all. But this isn’t Mission: Impossible at its best. The Final Reckoning is a bloated adventure with too many plotlines and characters. Despite its near 3-hour runtime, it feels incomplete. The beginning is choppy and hard to follow, as if scenes were cut because the film was overly long. And most disappointingly, some of the mysteries teased in the previous film don’t get resolved.

ETHAN: I need you to trust me… One last time.

Given its name and the desire to pay homage to the franchise’s 30-year legacy, you might think this movie is the end of the road for Ethan and the Impossible Mission Force, but the filmmakers haven’t ruled out another installment. I would definitely welcome Mission: Impossible 9, but I hope any future sequels would focus on what made some of the earlier movies so good: the blend of espionage and heist genres.

And in case you’re wondering, the best Mission: Impossible movie is the fifth installment Rogue Nation.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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