Guy Ritchie's Indiana Jones Copycat That 2025 Tried to Bury Deserves a Second Look - MCE Notices | California State Portal

The Indiana Jones franchise has left some big shoes to fill. Harrison Ford’s iconic series of action-adventure films is considered the best of the genre, so finding something that gets even close to it in quality can be quite hard. However, there are a few globe-trotting, treasure-hunting romps that do come close. One such movie is Fountain of Youth from renowned filmmaker Guy Ritchie.

The 2025 streaming film stars Office alum John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, and Eiza González. Originally released on Apple TV+ in May of last year, the epic cinematic adventure tells the tales of two estranged siblings (played by Krasinski and Portman) who reunite to find the Fountain of Youth. While it is far from a perfect film, Guy Ritchie’s Indiana Jones copycat movie does check many of the boxes of Steven Spielberg’s iconic adventure movie franchise, making it a prime candidate for a second look from fans.

Fountain of Youth Is Perfect For Indiana Jones Fans

Image via Apple TV+

Fountain of Youth deserves more credit than it got upon its release last year. The film debuted to an underwhelming 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics picking apart what they called a “derivative and uninspired story.” Despite this, the Guy Ritchie production performed well on Apple TV+, becoming a fixture of the streaming platform’s top ten most-streamed movies for the remainder of 2025. At the onset of the new year, Fountain of Youth is still in the top ten, sitting at an impressive No. 6 seven months after its premiere.

While critics aren’t entirely unfounded in their assessment of Fountain of Youth, they also gloss over the film’s stronger points. Like many other Indiana Jones clones, the 2025 action-adventure film features a by-the-numbers plot. However, it is difficult to ignore the production value of Apple TV’s biggest venture yet.

Fountain of Youth is a globe-trotting adventure in every sense of the word, visiting some of the most iconic and beautiful sights in the world. Unlike all too many big-budget productions today, Fountain of Youth takes the time to actually film on these sites, or at least build worthwhile sets. In a time when most movies would have filmed on a green screen, seeing real locations is incredibly refreshing.

Fountain of Youth‘s cast is also predictably strong in the film. John Krasinski is effortlessly lovable as the mischievous treasure hunter Luke Purdue. Natalie Portman is a terrific foil as Luke’s more rigid younger sister, Charlotte. Eiza González is another standout, playing the mysterious and dangerous Esme, who tracks the treasure-hunting team during their adventure.

Other characters, like Domhnall Gleeson’s Owen Carver and Arian Moayed’s Jamal Abbas, fall into more predictable tropes, but still have their fun moments throughout the film.

Will Fountain of Youth 2 Happen?

Eisa Gonzalez, John Krasinski and Natalie Portman standing between sand dunes in Fountain of Youth

Despite largely negative reviews, Fountain of Youth deserves a sequel. For a direct-to-streaming movie, critical reviews don’t matter nearly as much as viewership. While the film performed poorly in the former, there is no denying its popularity on Apple TV+. With this in mind, there is little reason for Apple to avoid making a sequel to Guy Ritchie’s hit action-adventure film.

Fountain of Youth sets up a sequel in the first film through Eiza González’s character, Esme. Throughout the film, Esma pursues the Purdues, appearing at first as an antagonist. Eventually, it is revealed that she is working for a covert international organization dedicated to preserving ancient artifacts from treasure hunters with ill intent.

Stanley Tucci even makes a brief cameo as Esme’s mysterious boss, seemingly setting up his character for a bigger role in potential sequels. The film also ends with a promise that the Purdues will go on more adventures, a clear sequel setup that has yet to be fulfilled.

The only thing standing in Apple’s way of greenlighting a Fountain of Youth sequel is the production cost that goes with making such a film. The biggest factor working in the original movie’s favor is its terrific production value, but these effects don’t come cheap. Fountain of Youth is estimated to have cost Apple as much as $180 million, which is a difficult sum to make back from a streaming venture.

Potential sequels might be forced to go to theaters to make back their staggering budgets. Regardless, Apple hasn’t yet made any official announcements about the future of the franchise, leaving audiences uncertain about sequels.

Fountain of Youth is far from a masterpiece, falling short of the heights of the Indiana Jones franchise in many regards. Still, the Guy Ritchie film deserves more of a chance from audiences. The gripes critics have with the first film could be little more than growing pains in a promising franchise-to-be.

Fountain of Youth is available to stream on Apple TV+.