Fountain of Youth

I've been asking for a new true adventure film since the last National Treasure, but I guess I just wanted it too much, and I got the curse instead of the blessing.

It looks fine, on the surface. Guy Ritchie makes an international hunt for treasure that certainly impresses visually, but in terms of content (and note that Ritchie didn't write this film, when writing is one of his true strengths as a filmmaker) it's as shallow as they come. Some rote puzzles, intermittent fist fights, and an utterly charmless gang of bystanders that follow Krasinski wherever he tells them to go. Stanley Tucci literally just shows up once, for about two minutes total, and you can almost see him just turn around to collect his paycheck at the end of his scene.

Do yourself a favor and go play the new Indiana Jones video game instead. It's so, so much better than this, and was made with true reverence for the art of adventure films.

Great cast fantastic director interesting premise and a boat load of cash and you get a mediocre movie that had so much and delivers so little.

Guy Ritchie is in my opinion one of the finest british directors of my age and he has made some great modern classics from snatch and lockstock to his lesser works like ruse de gare. I would always have said even If I didn't like the film he stayed true to his aesthetic and put his whole into his art: this I hope is the exception that proves the rule.

A mash of all the best parts of the great adventure treasure hunt films of the past from Indiana Jones to national treasure there is a bit of all the best mixed up and ruined in a obviously expensive project. The end result is heartless and dull it feels like the studio may have interfered in the production but whatever the end result just left me sad and ambivolent.

Fountain of Youth has all the ingredients of a compelling adventure-mystery, ambition, and a supernatural twist-but it never quite comes together. The biggest flaw? A shocking lack of investment in its protagonists. Despite a talented cast, the characters feel thinly written, making it impossible to care about their fates. It's a shame to see otherwise skilled actors reduced to B-material by a script that gives them little to work with.

Visually, the film is competent, and there are moments where the premise sparks intrigue. But without emotional stakes or memorable performances, even the slickest set pieces fall flat. Fountain of Youth isn't unwatchable-it's just disappointingly forgettable.

C'mon Guy Ritchie, Natalie Portman, and John Krasinski. I'm a huge fan of all three but this movie was painful. None of the characters were interesting, the "Dad" back story didn't build any intrigue, the fighting between the siblings was obnoxious, the dream sequences were cheesy, I could have made better special effects with my home computer a YouTube tutorial, and the ending was awful. The whole movie I kept thinking about how excited the actors must have been to sign on to work with Guy Ritchie, but then so disappointed to see the finished product. I expected way more than this embarassing dribble.

If you had seen a movie and a half about adventure and old artifacts in the past, or played a similar video game, you know what this movie is about. In about 10 minutes through, you will figure it out..the plot, the bad guy etc. That is not the problem. We watch these movies time and time again for the fun ride, the amount of historical nonsense they can cram through while keeping that entertaining. Sense be damned.

What kept most of these movies fun, are the charm, the cheese, the quirks here and there, fun characters, great locations and action. Those often overlapped sense, character depth and meaning. This movie does not lack on the visuals and actions, it lacks in the former 3. I don't know. It felt too clean and devoid of pleasantries that attract you toward a popcorn adventure flick. It is just..too linear.

Perhaps they wanted to be different, or maybe they did not want to offend someone. I can't believe a Guy Ritchie movie could ever unfunny specially when it's meant to have comedic elements. Ah well, whatever the reason, it was in fact, a mistake. 6/10 for pretty people and locations.