The Fountain of Youth - Review 

Rating: 2 out of 5

GUY Ritchie attempts to recapture the magic of Indiana Jones for his latest all-action adventure, The Fountain of Youth. But despite assembling an appealing cast, the film feels like a second rate knock off that eventually even fails to measure up to the likes of National Treasure.

John Krasinski, who has already made a decent fist of following in Harrison Ford’s footsteps in Amazon’s Jack Ryan TV series, here attempts to repeat the trick by playing a modern day treasure hunter named Luke, who assembles a team to uncover the mythical Fountain of Youth on behalf of dying billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson), who is bankrolling the endeavour.

Included in this ensemble of code breakers and puzzle solvers is Luke’s disapproving sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) and a muscle man named Patrick (The Boys’ Laz Alonso), while attempting to thwart them are a rogue’s gallery of villains and/or protectors led by a kick-ass woman named Esme (Andor’s Eiza González) and a police inspector (Arian Moayed).

The ensuing romp is as globe-trotting as you’d expect, taking in Bangkok, London, Vienna and Cairo.

And to be fair, things start brightly enough with a nifty car versus moped chase in Bangkok that suggests we’re in for the type of tongue in cheek meets muscular adventure that Ritchie honed his craft on with the likes of his Sherlock Holmes films.

But sadly the momentum quickly gets lost, for a number of reasons.

Primarily, the script isn’t interesting enough, which impacts the chemistry. Attempts at witty banter between the principals falls flat and renders the central characters - and Krasinski in particular - annoyingly cocky.

The best adventurers show some humility (think Indiana Jones’ confession of making things up as he goes along or Nicolas Cage’s everyman style in National Treasure). But Krasinski opts for glib and comes over borderline arrogant, not least when attempting to flirt with González’s nemesis. They lack any real spark, with González also criminally under-served in both the action and the dialogue stakes.

The action itself, meanwhile, struggles to deliver anything in the way of a memorable set piece - and feels flat.

While the so-called plot twists are lightweight - a big reveal is so obvious that only those entering this genre for the first time will fail to spot it.

And the central caper itself feels like a low rent spin on Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade (which was done so much better) and The Da Vinci Code, which came with more edge.

It’s highly probable that Apple envisage The Fountain of Youth as a potential franchise, especially given the direction of the ending (which sets its team off in search of another adventure).

But whoever takes charge behind the camera next time around is going to have to do a hell of a lot better - if the damage done by this opening instalment doesn’t prove terminal to its prospects. One film in and The Fountain of Youth already feels old.

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 2hrs 5mins