Most critics find Fountain of Youth a brisk, derivative treasure hunt that never justifies the trip. The lean is negative, with only two reviews on the positive side, but almost everyone grants Guy Ritchie the action: praise clusters on a long car chase, a shipwreck dive and a cleverly staged heist, and on a pace that even the harshest reviews concede rarely flags. The supporting cast fares well, with Eiza González, Arian Moayed and Domhnall Gleeson each singled out.
The reservations gather around the leads and the script. Several reviews find John Krasinski miscast or, in The Wrap’s case, plainly obnoxious, and his bickering with Natalie Portman is called forced more often than charming; Polygon dissents, thinking him a good fit for Ritchie’s fast talk. The spread is wide, from IndieWire and The AV Club calling it mostly successful to The Guardian finding it soulless. The middle ground is a shrug: watchable, forgettable, and explained rather than felt.
