23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Guy Ritchie's latest film now streaming called ‘one of the worst of 2025'
The long-awaited adventure film, which stars John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as siblings on the hunt for the Fountain of Youth, has finally arrived on Apple TV+
Guy Ritchie's recent foray into streaming has landed with a thud on Apple TV+ as of today, Friday, May 23, leaving critics unimpressed.
Despite boasting stars such as John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, and a beguiling plot, the film hasn't managed to shake off early criticisms calling it hackneyed and lacklustre.
With a dismal initial Rotten Tomatoes rating of 33 percent, the film's true test will come this weekend as viewers settle in to form their own opinions.
Krasinski and Portman embody the roles of Luke and Charlotte Purdue, sibling adventurers brought back together by an affluent but dying tycoon to locate the mythical Fountain of Youth.
Their mission to uncover ancient secrets propels them around the globe and plunges them into peril while they search for one of the most sought-after relics, reports the Mirror US.
Though the premise might echo the iconic escapades of Indiana Jones, consensus amongst reviewers is that the result is a forgettable mashup, slating it as one of 2025's bottom rungs in cinema.
Filmhounds' Awais lamented on X (formerly known as Twitter): "fountain of youth is one of the worst films of the year!
"A film that should be a lot better than it is. it certainly looks the part - lavish, expensive, big. but it's a soulless, vapid, and overwrought mess."
And Next Big Picture wasn't any kinder, remarking: "Worse than not being great, it never sinks to enough depths to become a terrible trainwreck, either.
"The average set pieces, mildly effective humor, and decent chemistry between the actors just make the experience all the more laborious to endure."
Chiming in with a less than flattering take, The Hollywood Reporter stated: "It's all as predictable as you'd expect, with the screenplay by James Vanderbilt failing to provide the wit necessary to make the film stand out in any way."
Entertainment Weekly also weighed in on the disappointment, noting: "The characterizations are flat, the would-be quippy dialogue rarely elicits laughs, and the action sequences seldom rise above the level of satisfactory."
Yet not all hope is lost as some reviewers see the glass half full; Collider offered a lukewarm defence, rating it a 6/10 and commenting: "The thing is, Fountain of Youth could have easily been just another bad movie made for streaming, and the fact that it isn't is an accomplishment in of itself.
"It's a perfectly watchable movie designed to keep you entertained for two hours on a rainy Sunday afternoon."
So, will you dive into the quest for eternal youth this weekend?
Fountain of Youth is available to stream on Apple TV+.
