Despite a big-name cast, Guy Ritchie’s latest action-adventure, Fountain of Youth, is a surprisingly shallow experience. The film tries for a fun, witty vibe but misses the mark entirely, coming off as a watered-down version of far better treasure-hunt movies. At its best, it’s a sort of National Treasure-lite, but those brief moments don’t come close to justifying the two-hour runtime, which feels like a real grind.
Four-time Emmy nominee John Krasinski’s normally able to lift average material, but not in this case. Oscar winner Natalie Portman also doesn’t inject anything special into the globe-trotting adventure. The fight scenes feel generic, and the stunts give off a serious “been there, done that” vibe. And Fountain of Youth‘s fantastical setups, while expected to be outlandish in this genre, are just so weirdly staged that nothing ever really comes together coherently.
The film opens with Luke (Krasinski) being chased through the streets of Bangkok on a scooter as his pursuers attempt to steal a tube off his back. Luke drives up and down flights of stairs, through a marketplace, and winds up stealing a different scooter with a flaming cart attached before making an improbable escape onto a moving train.
From there, the plot, which involves a quest for the titular mythical spring, quickly devolves into a series of frenetic set pieces.
The hijinks continue on board the train when Luke meets a woman (Eiza González, 3 Body Problem) who knows his name but won’t give hers (we eventually learn it’s Esme). She’s after the painting inside his tube, which leads to a flirty skirmish between them while a much larger fight rages on around them.
The action then awkwardly shifts to Charlotte (Portman) in Trafalgar Square, dealing with a nasty divorce and custody battle over her son. Her brother, Luke, pops in, surprising her at her museum job. He tries to get her to relive their “great adventures,” and she reminds him they’ve had to grow up. But of course, her protestations mean nothing when she joins him and their dad’s old team in their hunt for the Fountain of Youth.
John Krasinski and Natalie Portman absolutely do not sell the sibling connection. Laz Alonso (The Boys) and Carmen Ejogo (The Penguin) play underdeveloped fellow treasure hunters who were part of Luke and Charlotte’s dad’s old team. Domhnall Gleeson (The Patient) doesn’t fare any better as Owen, a billionaire who convinces the team that the Fountain of Youth is real and funds their hunt. Additional supporting players include Arian Moayed as an Interpol agent and Benjamin Chivers as Charlotte’s precocious son, Thomas. Stanley Tucci cameos as Esme’s boss, the only really intriguing character in the film.
Fountain of Youth‘s attempts at humor often fall flat, and the lack of engaging characters among the leads is a hurdle that even the intense action sequences can’t overcome. And speaking of the action sequences, as the story progresses, the characters find themselves involved in increasingly outlandish scenarios, which is, again, par for the genre’s course. But the bounds of credulity are stretched way too far with a deeply questionable underwater recovery operation.
Although Fountain of Youth offers a few stunning visual effects, these fleeting moments are quickly overshadowed by a plot that just doesn’t hold up. The movie’s pacing is all over the place, and throwing in that impending divorce storyline feels completely out of left field and unnecessary.
The overarching mystery ultimately proves difficult to invest in. Fountain of Youth boasts a talented cast and some ambitious set pieces, but a muddled script, uninspired action, and a sense of trying too hard kill the fun.
GRADE: D+
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 23, 2025, streaming on Apple TV+
Running Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
This post was last modified on March 17, 2026 12:58 pm