I'm beyond impressed...

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2002)

CONTAINS POSSIBLE PLOT AND CHARACTER SPOILERS. I just got back from the movies and decided to give Lilo and Stitch a go since I've already seen just about everything else that's out. If I had to sum it up in once phrase, I'd say: Not only was it absolutely brilliant, but the best animated film ever produced. This is why:
Usually, in a Disney movie, you can see plot developments from a mile away. Lilo and Stitch is pretty ambiguous, meaning you can never really tell what's coming up next. It doesn't even seem like a Disney movie. Hardly any little childish jokes or anything. It's absolutely fantastic. The music is WONDERFUL. It's subtle yet sets up the mood of the scene perfectly. The voice acting is superb. Lilo (Daveigh Chase) does a fantastic job of delivering the frequently tense dialogue. David Ogden Stiers is probably the best voice actor I've ever heard. His Russian accent really brings his character to life. Not to mention Chris Sanders, with all the incredible noises that Stitch makes. Stitch alone is probably the funniest thing in the movie, with all his screeches and regurgitation.
Spoilers start here
As far as the story goes, it's great. Nani, Lilo's older sister, is fighting against Social Services to keep Lilo. I'm not gonna expand too much since a synopsis is available anywhere. However, the whole idea that Nani needs a job now really helps the plot so it doesn't bottom out near the beginning. Their social worker, Cobra Bubbles, tells Lilo that she needs to reform Stitch into a model citizen after Stitch throws a book in his face (I was cracking up). Also, Lilo has her fair share of problems. She's an outcast amongst her companions. Just to give you a little taste of what you're in for, I'm gonna completely describe the opening of the movie. Lilo runs into dance lessons late because she was feeding a fish which she believes controls the weather. She says that she was panicking because all they had was tuna and if she fed a fish tuna she would be a bad person so that's why she was late. As she explains this to her dance teacher, this one girl calls her weird and Lilo snaps. She jumps on the girl and smashes her into the floor and starts punching her face. This is the first indication that something's wrong, which is obviously a quantam leap beyond previous Disney movies. Disney has done so many weak movies that you might as well go ahead and disassociate this movie from any other; it's fantastic. Yet another memorable scene is when Lilo tells Stitch to be constructive and build something rather than destroy everything. Stitch then proceeds to rapidly create a scale model of San Francisco (he does this because he is programmed to live in big cities and destroy them. Since Hawaii has no real big cities, he creates one). He then reenacts Godzilla, tearing apart the buildings and screaming and eating little model cars. No other non-human creature in Disney history has ever been so developed as Stitch. I'm not going to spoil any more, but I'll leave you with this:
I don't advise you see this movie, I command it. It will give you not only some joy of watching such a fun film, but it will totally change your whole perspective on animated movies. I mean come on, I'm a 16 year old male and I loved it. That has to count for something, right?
Final rating: 10/10, and believe me, I'd go higher if I could.
Also, some final parting advice: If you don't have kids, go after dark so you won't have to put up with screaming babies and whining kids. It gets old fast.