Memorial Day At The Movies: 'Final Reckoning,' And 'Lilo & Stitch'

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Planning to spend Memorial Day weekend at the movies? Tom Cruise has a new film. Plus, a Disney live-action remake yet again graces the cinematic screen.

“Mission: Impossible” fans, your wait is over! “The Final Reckoning” — the eighth installment in the venerable spy-action series — arrives this weekend, starring Cruise in his iconic role as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt.

Remember Disney's animated “Lilo & Stitch” back in the early aughts? The new live-action remake, starring Maia Kealoha, Sydney Agudong and Chris Sanders, also makes its cinematic debut.

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Check out what we thought of the two new releases below.

Movies Out This Weekend

“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning”

Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell; directed by Christopher McQuarie

Nostalgia, daring exploits, and massive spectacles lead to feats of brilliant Cruise-tastic delight in what could be the megastar’s swan song as IMF agent Ethan Hunt.

Picking up after the events of “Dead Reckoning,” “The Final Reckoning” posits a world where a sentient artificial intelligence called Entity has gone pervasively rogue and mad, having hacked into computer systems around the world.

Luckily, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team — tech whiz duo, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luthor Stickell (Ving Rhames), newly recruited pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell) and adversary-turned-ally Paris (Pom Klementieff) — are set to stop Entity at all costs.

Check out Patch’s full review of “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.”

“Lilo & Stitch”

Maia Kealoha, Sydney Agudong, Chris Sanders; directed by Dean Fleischer Camp

Over two decades since the eponymous duo from “Lilo & Stitch” captured the hearts of movie fans, young and old alike, the BFFs are returning to the cinematic screen for a revamp that does not, by and large, deviate from Disney’s 2002 original animated film.

The live-action remake “Lilo & Stitch,” directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, follows the familiar story of an unlikely friendship between Lilo (Maia Kealoha), a young, orphaned girl being raised by her older sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong), and Stitch (voiced by Stitch creator Chris Sanders), an alien experiment gone awry.

In his attempt to escape the United Galactic Federation authorities, Stitch crash-lands in the jungles of Hawaii. Moments later, he pretends to be a dog and charms Lilo with his puppy eyes. With Nani’s help and blessings, Lilo adopts Stitch, who, over the course of time, becomes “ohana” (family) to the sisters.

Meanwhile, scientist Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and UGF Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) are hot on Stitch's trail. In the original “Lilo & Stitch,” these two characters disguise themselves as humans by wearing unconvincing costumes that conceal their true identities. By contrast, in the updated movie, they use technological devices such as holograms to create their human images.

Wondering if Captain Gantu, the antagonistic alien from the original, is in the new movie? Unfortunately, he is absent. Jumba takes the mantle of main antagonist in the new film.

The new “Lilo & Stitch” still resonates with the same original heartstrings, focusing mainly on the sisters’ plight while coping with the loss of their parents, as well as the bond of friendship that Lilo forges with Stitch, despite his incorrigible, destructive tendencies. Nevertheless, the delivery of pathos feels rushed, ultimately diminishing its emotional impact as the scenes unfold.

The live-action “Lilo & Stitch” is not at all lackluster; however, the original animated film captivates more.