The Trailer For Guy Ritchie’s Latest Is Missing Something Important

In the trailer for Apple TV+‘s Fountain of Youth, we see John Krasinski and Natalie Portman tracking Hollywood’s favorite MacGuffin across five continents in a globetrotting adventure reminiscent of National Treasure, The Da Vinci Code, Indiana Jones, and any of the sequel films in their franchises.

Perhaps audiences will associate Guy Ritchie’s Fountain of Youth with other recently released blockbusters, such as Uncharted, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, or, to a slightly lesser extent, Guy Ritchie’s own 2023 film Operation Fortune, which was similarly a star-studded caper. The difference is it had something the Fountain of Youth doesn’t seem to possess at all: Guy Ritchie’s patented slick direction. It’s baffling, especially given that Guy Ritchie did indeed direct the upcoming Apple TV+ film.

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The Trailer For Guy Ritchie’s Fountain Of Youth Is As Generic As It Can Get

In the film, Krasinski and Portman search for the legendary Fountain of Youth, which supposedly actually exists here. The trailer shows them aligning with a couple of other explorers who are both geniuses, which we know because Natalie Portman asks, “Which genius will explain to me why I am here?” All the lines delivered are empty calorie exposition dumps for the sake of information and not pizzazz, which is so jarring for a Guy Ritchie film.

For example, we know Portman and Krasinski are siblings in the film because Krasinski calls her up and says, “Just thought a brother would want to see his sister.” Similarly, we only know the Fountain of Youth is hidden and potentially perilous to track down because Stanley Tucci enters the frame and says, “There’s a reason the Fountain is hidden.”

Also, and maybe most pressingly, everyone in the trailer talks so darn slowly. Since when does anyone in a Guy Ritchie film not speak with the rapid pace of his impulsive quick cuts? It’s all so confusing while also being horribly spelled out and done before. It’s a mystery adventure with almost no intrigue due to its relentless statement of plot structure and the almost cheeky level of triteness in its execution. To be fair, hearing Krasinski line-read “Five continents, dozens of cultures, over thousands of years” with a swelling, sweeping score in the background is as compelling as that trope always has been and will be forever.

Fountain Of Youth Could Use More Of Guy Ritchie’s Signature Style

Guy Ritchie is known for crafting some of the coolest, slickest films the action genre has provided over the past few decades. His next film looks like the most lukewarm, derivative fare that streaming services have historically had to offer. Straight-to-streaming is essentially straight-to-DVD these days—with admittedly higher budgeting—and Fountain of Youth is Exhibit A as to why that notion is held as truth.

It’s incredibly odd to see a Guy Ritchie film without fast-talking quick cuts, gangsters shooting up a storm, or even just hyper-stylized music, characters, or any observable style whatsoever.

Ritchie’s an auteur whose work should be identifiable within seconds of viewing. The entire two-minute trailer could have been directed by anyone, and it’s entirely unsatisfying to watch, especially given the trailer’s emphasis on his involvement.

Imagine Wes Anderson without symmetrical framing, David Fincher without tense and moody palettes, or Stanley Kubrick without unnatural perspectives. After so long without witnessing any of these calling cards, one would begin to wonder if the director was responsible for the work at all.

The Fountain Of Youth Trailer Propels A Worrying Trend Among Streaming Projects

The movie’s probably going to be mediocre at best and downright bad at worst. This is the problem with streaming platforms paying established directors to produce exclusive content (i.e., Jon Watts’s clichéd Wolfs on Apple TV+ and The Russo Brothers’ disastrous The Electric State on Netflix). These swept-aside films do nothing but dilute the filmmaker’s brand while vaunting the credentials of the platform with no real substance behind it. It’s the cardinal sin of content in the streaming age.

From the vapid exposition dump to the whatever cinematography, this movie seems like more content for the sake of content, with only Guy Ritchie’s name to bolster it. Just his name alone applies, as the scenes presented in the trailer look like they could have been directed by just some guy – with no Ritchie to be found.

It’s not as if Ritchie has lost his touch, either. Paramount+‘s new Ritchie-directed drama MobLand is currently certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a respectable 78% critic score. The ensemble show stars Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren, and Pierce Brosnan, all of whom are at the top of their game for a production with a rhythmic heartbeat and unique fingerprint – elements that are usually characteristic of a Guy Ritchie film.

Will The Fountain Of Youth Still Manage To Be Any Good?

The film will most likely be a serviceable-enough popcorn flick, in that, like popcorn, it’s fun to consume mindlessly for a while and, before you know it, it’s done. There’s a small sliver of a chance that the film is a welcome departure for Ritchie, one that shows he’s capable of branching out and producing a film that defies his own mantra as a filmmaker. But, if the trailer is any indication, and it is, Fountain of Youth will be inoffensive at best, and that’s not what you sign up for when viewing a Guy Ritchie product.

MobLand

Release Date

March 30, 2025

Network

Paramount+

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  Pierce Brosnan

  Conrad Harrigan

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  Helen Mirren

  Maeve Harrigan

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  Paddy Considine

  Kevin Harrigan