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Guy Ritchie has recently ditched his London gangster roots and started making a different type of film. Fountain of Youth is part Uncharted, part Indiana Jones, part Jungle Cruise. It’s not original, but it’s a cosy, light-hearted romp that will appeal to the adults and the children (although it’s probably more enjoyable for the little ones).
Luke Purdue (John Krasinski) is an art robber who has spent his life adventuring around the world and stealing priceless pieces. In his mind, he is carrying the legacy of their late archaeologist father. His sister, strait-laced museum curator Charlotte (Natalie Portman), isn’t so sure about the morality of this work.
Luke is on the hunt for the fountain of youth, hired by terminally ill billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson), and invites Charlotte on the ride. Charlotte is going through a divorce, and even her own 11-year-old son (Benjamin Chivers) thinks she has lived a boring life and needs a little thrill. Joining Luke on the hunt for eternal life are Deb (Carmen Ejogo) and Patrick (Laz Alonso), who are generic action team members with earpieces and mysteriously good fighting skills.
The character’s backstory is thinly written and sped over in a way that hopes the audience doesn’t question anything. How does everyone so easily agree with the idea that this mystical place is real? Why is no one questioning what happens once they find the answer to immortality? On their back is Inspector Abbas (Arian Moayed) and fellow “painting recoverer” Esme (Eiza González). They trail behind the team throughout, not because they add to the narrative, but because every film needs a bad guy.
Luke and Charlotte are the cliché chalk and cheese siblings. Written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, 2022’s Scream), Fountain of Youth does absolutely nothing new or unexpected with the characters, locations, and plot. They bicker about their differences, how they chose to live their lives, and how to celebrate their father’s legacy. It’s nothing you won’t have seen before, and likely in a more heartfelt and nuanced way.
Fountain of Youth feels like a movie made for people who like video games. Their adventure has them hunting down a lost Rembrandt in the wreckage of the RMS Lusitania, heading to the Austrian National Library in Vienna, and ending it all in Cairo. Each location is like a game level, where they have to defeat the bad guy and get the clue so they can make it to the next level. The film is more like a series of vignettes than a flowing story, as each city they visit feels like a separate entity.
Fountain of Youth could have worked better as a television show, with each episode dedicated to each location. As a film, it’s both too long at 2 hours, but also speeds through subplots too quickly. The hunt for the MacGuffin to lead to the next one is a repetitive formula over 120 minutes, but slightly less wearing in a TV format.
Anyone expecting big fight scenes and extravagantly choreographed set pieces will be disappointed. The fight sequences feel like cut scenes from a video game and struggle to integrate with the plot. The film opens with a pretty fun motorcycle scene, but struggles to maintain momentum after that. The fight choreography we do get feels watered down for a younger audience, nothing like Ritchie’s previously gruesome showdowns. The director does make some off choices throughout the action by adding slow motion moments to the sequence, something surely the great Guy Ritchie knows better to do.
Frustratingly, the script wastes the cast and seems like it was made for a totally different group of people. Krasinski is doing his best Ryan Reynolds’ snarky, wise-cracking guy, but is too nice to nail the delivery. His jokes mostly fall flat and make him come across as smug and slappable. A better actor for the role could have elevated the film into something much less annoying. Portman is wasted as an underwritten mother of one, whose main character trait is ‘annoyed at her brother’. Luckily, she adds layers and heart to a script that doesn’t always deserve it. The Academy Award winner sadly doesn’t quite get to unleash her action heroine even if audiences can see how much she wants to in the minimal time she gets kicking ass.
The real crime of Fountain of Youth is sidelining Gleeson and designating him as a glorified babysitter throughout. He’s one of the most interesting and talented actors of the last decade, and yet, he is a cardboard cutout character here. That’s not to mention Stanley Tucci appearing for a few scenes as a wise word of reason, spouting generic action movie exposition that could have been seamlessly edited into a thousand other films. Eiza González is the only star who is used to their potential, a natural to the boisterous action scenes, and an enigmatic rival to Luke. This is her third outing with Guy Ritchie, and you can see why the director keeps returning to her.
For all its flaws, Fountain of Youth is not a total failure and will find its audience. While it struggles to bring anything new to the action-adventure genre, it does harken back to an older type of family movie that wasn’t about superheroes, violent action sequences, and overlong car chases. It’s a shame the script is a little messy and the leads are miscast because it had a lot of potential to be the perfect Sunday night film for the whole family.
Grade: C-
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Fountain of Youth
A treasure-hunting mastermind assembles a team for a life-changing adventure. But to outwit and outrun threats at every turn, he'll need someone even smarter than he is: his estranged sister.
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: John Krasinski , Natalie Portman , Eiza González
