Fountain of Youth: A Fun But Flawed Adventure (Early Review)

Fountain of Youth marks director Guy Ritchie’s seventh film in just under 6 years, and his first time making a film for a streaming service, releasing this weekend on Apple TV+. The film follows estranged siblings Charlotte (Portman) and Luke Purdue (Krasinski) who, after years apart, decide to partner up on a global search for the fountain of youth. Using historical clues, and skills taught to them by their late father, they embark on an epic quest for a mythical fountain that could grant them immortality. While the film may be far from Ritchie’s best as of late, it delivers a solid adventure that is not only fun, but also benefits from a great cast and dynamic action sequences.

It’s so refreshing to see a big budget streaming service release that is not plagued by consistently terrible green screen and an overuse of digital effects. Mostly shot on location, this choice proved to make all the difference in a globetrotting adventure that will have audiences even more immersed in the characters and their journey because they will feel like they are there with them. Ritchie is no stranger to action, but this effort here arguably offers some of the finest action filmmaking of his career and is certainly the biggest in terms of scale and scope. Its action sequences feature heaps of excitement and feature a good variety to them, whether it be shootouts, hand to hand combat, or chase sequences involving different vehicles, at different points throughout the film.

An adventure film above all else, it is a lot of fun in spite of a fairly familiar premise, Ritchie embraces this, paying homage to classic adventure films and video games such as the Indiana Jones franchise, Romancing the Stone, and the Uncharted franchise while still maintaining its own identity. Portman is great as ever in a role that is a major departure compared to the majority of her roles as of late. The supporting cast are also great, though some are utilized better than others. That being said, the two absolute standouts are easily Eiza González (Esme) and Arian Moayed (Inspector Abbas). Without saying too much, Esme makes for a convincing villain and the most interesting character of the bunch. On the other hand, Moayed is a blast as Abbas, the funniest part of the film and one with the best lines and jokes.

Meanwhile, Krasinski is miscast as Luke Purdue and is one of the film’s biggest weaknesses. While he isn’t bad, and has fine enough chemistry with Portman, the way his character is written does him no favours as the role needed a bigger movie star or a less comedy-inclined actor to pull it off. Luke is way too comedic and is given far too many quippy one liners to the point where he can’t ever be taken seriously, something which the film wants audiences to. Though Ritchie has assembled a great cast, including, outside of the already mentioned names, the likes of Domhnall Gleeson, Laz Alonso, Camren Ejogo, and Stanley Tucci. However, much of them are wasted, as they are given hardly anything to do, or are saddled with characters not worth caring about. Similarly, the film takes far too long to reveal is true villain and once it does, their eventual reveal is not that much better as they are given very little to work with. With a runtime of just over 2-hours, it goes on longer than it needs too, succumbing to a weak the third act that devolves into silly territory.

In the end, while Fountain of Youth is certainly flawed and far from director Guy Ritchie’s best, fans of Ritchie or the old school adventure films that inspire it will likely have a good time with this one. The rare streaming film worthy of being released in theaters, it will definitely hit the right spot for those looking for something to watch at home. And if the film were to be successful enough, it may very well spawn a sequel, something which it leaves the door open for.

Score: 68/100

still courtesy of Apple TV+

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/