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With the extreme change in personality for the score in this remake, Romer provides plenty of eye-rolling moments. The theremin-like effect for space concepts and occasionally for Stitch is overplayed. The outright ridiculous "What a Nice Arm You Have" is a truly awful comedy cue. On the other side, there exists no sincerity to early action or drama material, leaving only the final few cues to build that credibility of care. The action music in particular is very ineptly and cheaply orchestrated and mixed, yielding no depth of convincing peril. Romer simply cannot compete with Silvestri on that playing field, and Romer often compensates by accompanying such cues with synth effects and bizarre clicking and scraping noises that are unnecessary and distracting. Dissonance sometimes interferes badly, as in "Also Cute and Fluffy." (Silvestri's score had no such unpleasant moments.) Thematically, Romer does create a new set of identities to replace the ones from 2002, but they too are inferior, and his application of them is suspect. Cues like "Your Case Has Been Elevated" are a narrative vacuum, and even when logical spotting choices are made in other cues, the execution is sometimes emotionally off. Of Romer's three major themes, really only one of them will likely stick with audiences, and none is as memorable as Silvestri's alternatives. The main idea for Stitch and the wholesome aspect of the tale is helmed by a seven-note phrase repeated often without adequate secondary phrasing until late in score. Romer forces the theme to earn its full construct, and this cheapens its effect in the first two-thirds of the work. It also happens to be a somewhat annoying melody when expressed with enthusiasm. The composer previews fragments of the main theme in suspense at the start of "Experiment 626" before consolidating it at 0:41 on strings but without convincing power; the theremin gets part of the theme out at 1:26 as well. That effect is joined by voices calling at the outset of "Send Me an Angel," in which the vocal and symphonic performance late strongly emulates Philipp Noll's Traumfabrik in an odd comparison. That silly and eerie theremin effect returns multiple times for humor in "Earth Studies" but starts turning hopeful early in "How Good's His Hearing?" Listeners finally hear the theme with more dramatic sense very briefly via solo voice at 1:26 into "Yep, He's Perfect."

Romer's main theme for Lilo & Stitch remains stuck in repetitions of its first phrase for much of the score, all the way up to the sparse guitar ambience in the middle of "This is Reality." Only in the quietly dramatic but muted middle portions of "A Hui Hou" are the idea's secondary phrases introduced. The theme bursts for a moment of heroics in the middle of "Playtime is Over," and the now evident first two phrases are allowed a quick brass moment at 1:26 into "Also Cute and Fluffy." The theme flows with both phrases in redemptive spirit in the latter half of "What About Ohana?" and is switched around in the soft and hazy "Little and Broken, But Still Good." In that cue, the extremely happy and uppity rendition at 1:34 finally reveals the entire melody obviously at last. Lightly plucked at 0:45 into "Nobody Gets Left Behind" under the voices, the main Stitch theme builds to a major rendition for the ensemble and singers at end of that cue as is highlight of the work. It also ends "Goodnight Sisters" with a brief, plucked reminder of resolution. By this point, it's sharing airtime with Romer's family theme, which is comprised of a pair of related identities rolled into one purpose. One of them is an almost mystical presentation of ascending, four-note phrases at times. Debuting at the start of "Not a Good Fit" on voices and strings, this theme is elongated, hastened, and plucked for comedy at the start of "Practically a Kid Yourself" before returning to the vocal version over guitar for sensitivity. It takes a suspenseful tact in the middle of "Yep, He's Perfect" and proceeds in even darker shades against the villain theme in "When Things Fall Out of the Sky." An acoustic guitar presents it as a rhythm in "This is Reality" before voices take the melody, and similar shades explore the idea softly in "A Hui Hou." The longer variant of the family theme wanders on a woodwind early in "Good Parents" and continues in the muted slurring of "The Empty Chair," where it is neither warm nor clear enough. The theme returns to its restrained voices at the start of "He's Not an Animal, He's My Friend" and is interspersed into the sparse action of "Also Cute and Fluffy." The family theme reprises its initial vocal form in "We Were Supposed to Grow Up Together," becomes faint on strings early in "Nobody Gets Left Behind," and closes the score with some vibrant hope in "Goodnight Sisters." Although somewhat serviceable, this identity doesn't have enough wholesome appeal to really thrive.

One of the most impressive aspects of Silvestri's score for the 2002 is its action material, which is logically intertwined with his catchy theme for the villains. Romer is out of his league in this aspect of 2025's Lilo & Stitch. His villain theme is not well developed and cannot carry the weight or even remotely convincing sense of malice necessary for the pursuers of Stitch. Nowhere is the diminishment as obvious as in "Experiment 626," where Romer introduces a chopped rhythm on low strings at 1:04 and proceeds into the full melody at 1:40 on brass. The first two, space-oriented cues of Silvestri's score were a distinct highlight; here, this portion is an afterthought. Romer's villain theme starts to emerge again in "When Things Fall Out of the Sky" but does so very awkwardly on brass. It is barely intact in "Consider Our Deal Terminated," stews around the margins in "He's Not an Animal, He's My Friend," and builds during the first minute of "Also Cute and Fluffy" but for no purpose. The idea stomps early in "What About Ohana?" with twangy guitars under brass threats but goes nowhere in the score from there. Another aspect lost in the remake is the straight heroic take on Stitch's potential for good. Silvestri's hero theme for the character is catchy, but Romer's attempt at the same has a strangely Latin flavor that never really serves a purpose in the score. (Was Zorro somewhere in this story?) This material is bright but not well enunciated by trumpets at 2:01 into "Experiment 626" and more militaristic but still oddly Latin in "I Repeat, Code 51." Don't expect it to make sensible appearances elsewhere, as Romer apparently decided at some point to manipulate the main theme into a minimally heroic fanfare for the later scenes instead. A few other melodies poke around this score, including a six-note idea at end of "I'm Already in My Room" that has promise but doesn't factor much later. Overall, Romer provided a score from within his comfort zone, just as Silvestri had stayed true to his trademarks in 2002. The difference is that Silvestri's work is simply superior on all levels and did not need to resort to cheap tricks of manipulation. It's great that Romer infused the cultural element into his version, and that alone earns him a second star in the rating. But there was no artistic need to dump the Silvestri themes or his superb action material. On album, the re-recorded original songs are joined by the solitary vocals of "Aloha 'Oe," the traditional Hawaiian piece that has historically tied the franchise together. If you admire Silvestri's work for the original film, Romer's lengthy portion of the 2025 album will leave you frustrated and annoyed. Don't fix parts that weren't broken.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Total Time: 61:28