Treasure-hunting action-adventure films are like precious relics: highly prized, surprisingly rare, only occasionally solid gold. Guy Ritchie’s Fountain Of Youth consciously tries to muscle in on Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy and Uncharted (the games). Sadly, despite some winning elements, this old-school, globe-trotting, MacGuffin-hunting expedition ends up more Sahara, or The Mummy Returns, or Uncharted (the movie).
It’s not for lack of trying. All the ingredients are here: a wisecracking American adventurer in John Krasinski’s unfortunately named Luke Purdue; a find-the-clues quest that takes in historical artefacts; a trek across the globe that goes from sunken shipwrecks to contraption-filled pyramids; a long-lost mythological wonder to unearth (the Fountain of Youth, duh). But it never gels in the way that it should, with a join-the-dots narrative that’s more functional than fun, and disappointingly bland characters.
Luke Purdue (get it? He’s lost!) is no Indiana Jones, nor a Rick O’Connell
Ritchie — on a bonkers streak right now, this being his seventh film in six years, on top of several TV series — is at least having a good time, trading hardman-geezer tropes for broader blockbusterdom without losing his trademark energy. He swings the camera around during the action without losing clarity, delivers pacy set-pieces, and plumps for practical stunts throughout. One sequence, involving a ship raised from the ocean floor, was clearly filmed on a massive water-sloshing set, while location shooting includes Vienna, Bangkok, London and Cairo. Within the opening 15 minutes alone, you get a bike chase, a train brawl and an art heist.
But there’s a hole at the centre of it all. John Krasinski has always been charismatic, with oodles of affable charm. But he’s fundamentally miscast here; simply put, he’s too nice to be believable as a rugged, cocky, fortune-and-glory hunter. As a result, his Luke Purdue (get it? He’s lost!) is no Indiana Jones, nor a Rick O’Connell; not convincing in selfish-arsehole mode (a key facet of the character), nor wide-eyed enough when coming face-to-face with long-lost pieces of history. Natalie Portman brings a bit of verve to Luke’s sister Charlotte, reluctantly pulled into the adventure while muddling through a divorce, but the two never ring true as siblings.
Without a strong core of characters (Eiza González is wildly underserved; Domhnall Gleeson barely registers), Fountain Of Youth’s promising adventure elements become just… stuff. There’s no sense of awe as Luke and his underwritten crew near the Fountain; the banter feels forced and leaden throughout; even the crisp photography feel a bit soulless, a digital lens on an analogue genre. It might look the part, but on closer inspection, it’s hollow — a forgery of the real deal.