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.
