In between his terrific geezer gangster movies and TV series director Guy Ritchie helms far more family friendly fare such as Aladdin (a billion dollar blockbuster) and King Arthur (a box office bomb). Continuing along those lines is ‘Fountain of Youth’ that sees adventurer Luke Purdue (John Krasinski) and his estranged and newly divorced and respected art historian sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) team up.
But wherever Luke goes trouble follows him and it’s no different here with Esme (Eiza Gonzalez) heading up a team of thugs on behalf of The Leader (Stanley Tucci) who are after whatever artifact Luke ‘liberates’ for himself and here it’s a series of six paintings by renowned artists. It’s the terminally ill Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson) who has recruited Luke to do this as each of the six paintings have a clue to the whereabouts to the Fountain of Youth which he believes will cure him. Their quest also takes in The Wicked Bible, not ‘wicked’ as in the way a rapper might see it but wicked in that it was a misprinted early version of the King James Bible that had the commandment ‘Thou shalt commit adultery’. The rare edition of this Wicked Bible is in a secure library rather than the expected location: the bedside table of Boris Johnson but we digress. So not only is Esme and her team in pursuit of Luke but so is Jamal Abbas (Arian Moayed) who describes himself a Special Inspector though not in the same way as the world looks on Brooklyn Beckham as being ‘special’.
What follows is a globetrotting adventure that takes in Thailand, Austria and Egypt and plays like Indiana Jones meets National Treasure. There are several decent set pieces here notably one set onboard a ship wreck that Luke and his team raise to the surface with barrage balloons only for them to burst in a firefight with Esme and the wreck starts sinking again.
Ritchie has assembled a decent cast that sees a decent rapport between a quirky Krasinski and an exasperated Portman. Better still is the chemistry between Krasinski and Gonzalez with the frisson of a bubbling romance despite being on opposing sides and trying to kill each other making them ideally suited for marriage.
Fountain of Youth is heavily indebted to the Indiana Jones films – right from the start there’s a car chase set to an Chinese version of Nancy Sinatra’s ‘Bang, Bang, you shot me down’ similar to the opening night club scene of ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ with its Cantonese version of Cole Porter’s ‘Anything Goes’. Ritchie’s typically stylistic flourishes include number of clever edit points between scenes and a slo-mo fight set to Verdi’s Requiem II. Though the comparisons with Indiana Jones are unavoidable Krasinski makes the role of Luke Porter his own and is a likeable screen presence in an entertainingly jaunty adventure.
related feature : What Emily Blunt did between scenes & John Krasinki told the crew when filming, ‘A Quiet Place 2’
related feature : Luc Besson talks Leon 2…..
Here’s the Fountain of Youth trailer……
‘Fountain of Youth’ will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on 23rd May 2025
