Trigger Warning: Fountain of Youth contains scenes of flashing lights and patterns in the final act that may disturb photosensitive viewers.
At this point in his extensive career, it seems fair to boil down filmmaker Guy Ritchie’s films into two categories: romps and serious tales. The former are titles like Snatch (2000) and Sherlock Holmes (2009), whereas the latter are titles like Wrath of Man (2021) and The Covenant (2023). It’s possible for the two styles to overlap with a romp including more serious overtones, but, typically, this is how all his works shake out with some audiences favoring one over the other. In the case of his latest, audiences who enjoy the romps are in for a treat as Fountain of Youth, directed by Richie and written by James Vanderbilt (Scream (2022); The Losers), is a globe-trotting adventure tale that brings the excitement of summer cinema right to your door as its quest for a legendary artifact entreats you to leave reason behind.
L-R: Natalie Portman as Charlotte Purdue and John Krasinski as Luke Purdue in FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
Siblings Luke and Charlotte Purdue (John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, respectively) grew up traveling the world alongside their archeologist father, but took different paths upon his death: Charlotte became a curator for a London museum and Luke shifted slightly in his archeology toward the resurrection of mythological objects. Right as Charlotte is at a crisis point in her life, Luke shows up, quite dramatically, with a life-altering proposition that Charlotte’s not likely to believe: he’s on the verge of finding the legendary Fountain of Youth. There’s a lot Luke’s not saying about who’s trying to stop them and possible issues with law enforcement, but those are minor quibbles when a legacy-defining find is at their fingertips. Besides, what could go wrong?
L-R: Natalie Portman as Charlotte Purdue, John Krasinski as Luke Purdue, Domhnall Gleeson as Oliver Carver, Carmen Ejogo as Deb McCall, and Laz Alonso as Patrick Murphy in FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
Between the general premise and the marketing, a lot of folks have been getting National Treasure (2004) vibes from Fountain of Youth and that’s fairly accurate. However, and this is entirely complementary, the film is more analogous to a modern day The Mummy (1999) as it features two bickering siblings, a sexy secret protector (this time by The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’s Eiza González), and a dangerous secret that threatens humankind. From the bends in reality that Vanderbilt welds into the script to the stunt work, Fountain has serial action/adventure energy emanating throughout and it leads to an extraordinarily good time. Part of this is in the way one discovery leads to a new puzzle that the team Luke leads has to be clever enough to figure out and how each new edition to the team results in a new perspective that only said new person can bring. Rather than feeling contrived or obvious, it’s playful due to its use of serial tropes and tools. This leaves the audience feeling energized by the creativity rather than bored by repetition of puzzle, clue, discovery, new location, evade, repeat. It also helps that the cast is totally game and capable.
Krasinski is not new to the action genre between 2016’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi and his stint on the four seasons of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and they make solid use of it from the jump using Luke as both the gateway to the story, but also as the means to establish the tone of the film. In a fun set piece, Luke is shown motorbiking through Bangkok and avoiding a call, a choice that sets up Luke’s evasive nature immediately. This aspect of his character is used throughout the film as comedic nuggets, making Luke seem more charming rogue (think: Rick O’Connell) than creep. From here, the action kicks off as Luke tries to avoid capture for theft, which places him in one quick-thinking situation after another. Each potential dead-end leads to a hilarious solution, helping to convey that Luke’s both extremely lucky and clever: two traits which will come to define him through to the major conflict in the final act. Special credit belongs to the stunt team lead by supervising stunt coordinator Adam Kirley (Casino Royale; X-Men: First Class) as each sequence serves the characters and their respective arcs, rather than being merely a means to try to break up the conversation. They either communicate character details like the opening about Luke, the chemistry between Luke and González’s Esme as they cross metaphorical swords, or the somewhat strained relationship between Luke and Charlotte. Each set piece reveals a new layer of who these people are and what matters to them, a critical element for an action/adventure serial as it’s the relationships that people coming back.
To their credit, the other members of the cast are no strangers to action either, it’s just that Krasinski and González get the lion’s share. Portman (Star Wars prequel trilogy), Domhnall Gleeson (Star Wars sequel trilogy), Laz Alonso (The Boys), Arian Moayed (Spider-Man: No Way Home), and Carmen Ejogo (Alien: Covenant) each have cred from some series or another, even if not all are given the moments one might want from this tale. At the very least, what each performer does get is at least consistent to what is known of their respective characters and in keeping with their arcs. Thankfully, whether some may desire more from their fav, Ritchie is experienced with large ensembles, knowing how to use each one deftly so that the presence of each character is more than ornamental. Even when narrative energy stabilizes primarily on Luke, Ritchie manages to pass it to other characters without much momentum loss.
John Krasinski as Luke Purdue in FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
The main complaint about the film is a very specific implausibility regarding the lawfulness of Luke’s crew as funded by Gleeson’s Oliver Carver. In a story like The Mummy, it didn’t matter so much whether real identities were used because the era of the narrative didn’t involve trouble with law enforcement, just Imhotep’s minions and the protectors. Conversely, in National Treasure, false identities couldn’t be used because Nicolas Cage’s Benjamin Gates was trying to do everything as ethically as possible to preserve the very national artifacts he sought to procure and, as baked into the film, Benjamin wasn’t the clandestine sort which only served to increase the tension of the film. Here, however, Carver’s bankroll and influence seems to be the only Get Out of Jail Free card that the film needs to excuse or wave away a great deal of the presumed fallout that should land on Luke. To the script’s credit, Vanderbilt ensures that said fallout lands on someone, typically Charlotte, thereby increasing tension between the siblings and working to point out Luke’s selfishness arising from tunnel vision, but it rarely lands on Luke himself, even as copious evidence exists to earn him a massive punitive sentence. This, of course, is far less fun to consider when dealing with a romp, but it stands out for exactly this reason. At the very least, Fountain sticks the landing on its thematic intention and begins a satisfying ramp-up in the ways that serial adventures in the vein of The Mummy or even the Indiana Jones series do, yet, once the dopamine stops flowing, a lot of questions involving consequences start to uncomfortably linger.
Eiza González as Esme in FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
All that said, if all you want are a few thrills and some decent laughs, this Guy Ritchie romp delivers with its beautiful people moving in and out of ridiculous situations in pursuit of a MacGuffin whose importance lies more in what the search teaches versus its tangibility amid quips slotted between heartfelt conversations. It certainly helps that by opting for action on location in Thailand, England, Austria, and Egypt, Fountain possesses a grounded feel through its entirety. With stunts that both convey character and entertain in equal measure, a cast capable of playing all the silly stuff straight, and a script that understands the essence of action/adventure serials, Fountain of Youth is the kind of cinematic summer kick-off one expects from a theater, but is available right at home via Apple TV+. It thrills, it charms, and leaves one hoping for another adventure.
Available on Apple TV+ May 23rd, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Apple TV+ Fountain of Youth webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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