“Fountain of Youth” by Guy Ritchie: A nod to Indiana Jones

Brakes screech, tires paint bold lines on the asphalt, and then the car crashes. Director Guy Ritchie loves traffic that turns into chaos, whether in Bangkok or London. And the focus of the chases is always Luke Purdue, the treasure hunter who finds treasures on strangers' walls.

The art thief steals a painting in Bangkok, and barely in London, he steals Rembrandt's "Head of Christ" from the National Gallery – under the watchful eye of his sister Charlotte, a curator there. "Life is about adventure," says Luke Dreamwalker, trying to persuade her to go on adventures with him again, like they used to, when their father was still alive.

Charlotte now has a different life, her adventures involving divorce and custody battles. She considers Luke's latest project a pipe dream. And so begins "Fountain of Youth," the search for the fountain of youth, the cure for aging and natural death, which is said to also provide wealth and beauty as bonuses. It wasn't even Luke's idea, but that of the terminally ill multi-billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson).

"There's a grain of truth in every myth, in every fable," says Luke. Indiana Jones couldn't have said it better, after all, he's already proven the existence of the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments, not to mention the Holy Grail. The fact that Luke and Charlotte's deceased father was named Harrison underscores that Guy Ritchie also likes Indiana Jones.

It's unfortunate that God wants to keep this place hidden from humanity. Why the Almighty has sworn a select group of people called the "Protectors of the Path" to keep the well secret is something only God knows.

Luke and his teammates Deb (Carmen Ejogo) and Murph (Laz Alonso), however, know that six artists came together in the 16th century to reveal the well - with a riddle: In six paintings about the life of Jesus, codes were found - "Sex et unum" (Seven and One) and the letters D, K, C, I and E. These pictures must be collected: Caravaggio's "The Arrest of Christ", Rubens' "Descent from the Cross", and so on.

Close to their goal: The adventurers in the Great Pyramid of Giza, where multi-billionaire Carver (Domnhall Gleeson, right) has a surprise in store. Scene from the film "Fountain of Youth."

Source: Apple TV+

No, the charming John Krasinski, whom film fans know as the tragic father in the sci-fi film "A Quiet Place" (2018), doesn't fill the screen as the gambler-minded archaeologist as Harrison Ford, but in this case, it's all about screen presence on large flat screens. Since Charlotte comes along (and so does her clever eleven-year-old son Thomas, played by Benjamin Chivers), Natalie Portman provides some amusement as Luke's moral counterweight.

And, no, "Fountain of Youth" isn't one of the English director's quirky, beautiful, and spirited bundles of energy à la "Snatch" (2000) or "The Gentlemen" (2018); rather, it's a passable two-hour diversion for customers of the streaming service Apple TV+, which has so far enjoyed the reputation of being a small, quality provider among the major portals. The first three "indie" films are iconic, with many scenes burned into the memory. Ritchie wants more like that.

And so, he first retrieves the Lusitania, believed to be unsinkable, from the seabed, where it had been sent by a German Imperial Navy submarine off the south coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915. The vault of the once troubled steamer is said to contain the last of the masterpieces to be acquired. Ritchie then lands a pursuit team led by Esme (Eiza González) on the not-so-imposing wreck—one of the mythical "protectors." Next, an Interpol agent named Jamal Abbas arrives, followed minutes later by a mafia henchman, already familiar from the Bangkok street chase. And: action!

In a film that also includes a beautifully choreographed and photographed duel in the spectacularly beautiful stateroom of the Austrian National Library and a spectacular showdown in Egypt. The more run-of-the-mill shootout in the first half can, however, be safely used as an opportunity to stock up on snacks. Slow motion is wasted on scenes that didn't need to be slowed down.

And Luke keeps dreaming of a whiskey glass with a glowing liquid in it—and it's not a pleasant dream. Esme warns Luke that he doesn't know what he's conjuring up. Charlotte also warns that there might be a reason for God's secrecy.

Towards the end, it becomes darker and more serious, and the simple message of the story emerges: that the super-rich are often super-greedy, a perversion of capitalism, they lack compassion, and some dream of being a superhero, a one-man superpower. We exclude Bill Gates from this, but we think firmly of Captain Tesla, as the billionaire in the film suffers what happened to the Nazis in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

“Fountain of Youth,” film, 125 minutes, directed by Guy Ritchie, with Natalie Portman, John Krasinski, Eiza González, Carmen Ejogo, Domnhall Gleeson, Laz Alonso (streamable on Apple TV+)