arungeorge13

You've got to be completely living under a rock to enjoy a film like Fountain of Youth -- yet another Guy Ritchie directorial that struggles to leave a mark. The man, who's known for his quirky gangster comedies, has lately been dipping his toes in various genres, in quick succession. Some of it has worked for me, like The Covenant and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, but those films have also been co-written by Ritchie and were made for a theatrical experience.

Fountain of Youth is written completely by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Amazing Spiderman, and some of the recent Scream films) and made for streaming (on TVs and phones). That itself makes it less palatable as a film, because there's less effort evident in the writing, staging of scenes, and overall characterization. Of course, Ritchie gets a good cast to work with, and that includes big names like John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza Gonzalez (wooo hottie!), and Domhnall Gleeson. The film ultimately feels like a mish-mash of similar adventures, but with lesser bite, urgency, or tension.

The writer even adds a dollop of his real-life family history into the mix, but Fountain of Youth simply fails to rise above its generic, predictable setup. It's one of those films you watch on a 3-hour flight, forgetting almost everything once you disembark.

A film like Until Dawn, almost a spiritual sequel to the 2015 videogame, should've been right up my alley.. and IT IS ACTUALLY, in parts. The plot is ripe for a feature film, and with a writer like Gary Dauberman (alongside Blair Butler, who has more than one foot in the gaming world) and a director like David F Sandberg, I expected this to be a lot better.

It's NOT BAD, for starters. Before the jumpscares get repetitive and less scary, there are a handful that are neatly crafted. The gore is relentless. Some of the kills in the final act are a gorehound's treat. There are nods to characters from the game, including a full-fledged Peter Stormare reprisal. There's even a nod to Sandberg's own Lights Out in one particular scene. Interestingly, they even get some of the colour palette from the game on point. The most enjoyable deaths are associated with tap water (lol!).

The characterization of the protagonist Clover (Ella Rubin) and her friends definitely needed better fleshing out. They mostly come across as bait for the scary (heavy on make-up) manifestations to prey on. The plot wants to focus on its unique setting, its inhabitants, rather than the protagonists. Their survival feels like a secondary thought, up until the last act. Also, because there's a time loop involved, you know everything's held back until the conclusion. The scares get tiresome after a point, and the plot keeps moving further away from its video game inspiration, making it less impactful overall.

This is as SWEET and WHOLESOME as the one-line plot makes it out to be. A beautifully wrapped cliche, but it's just heartwarming to see this wonderful cast slip into their respective roles. The story has its heart in the right place, and even when Netflix generally gets their action-comedies wrong, it at least compensates by giving us emotional dramas like these.

Tapping Stephen Chbosky to direct is also a good choice, as he's able to extract adorable performances from the entire cast. Vince Vaughn is back to being the "nice guy," and the presence of names like Susan Sarandon, Linda Cardellini, Talia Shire, and Joe Manganiello in the cast only makes it better. The plot doesn't have a whole lot to offer -- yet, it does remind you of the dozens of times you'd have sneaked into the kitchen to catch the first taste of what your granny's (or mom's) cooking. In this case, that's more than sufficient.

P. S. The (Italian) food looks F'n AMAZING!