“The Count of Monte Cristo” (2024) is a French adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ serialized adventure novel. The nearly three-hour brisk adventure and tale of revenge follows Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney), a sailor whose star is rising until jealous and ambitious men frame him for a political crime. After years of wrongful imprisonment without a trial on Riker’s Island’s French cousin, he escapes to become the Count of Monte Cristo. With this second chance at life, will he devote his life to hate or doing good? Balance is important in this original revenge story, and who does not love a good revenge story.
Niney is like France’s answer to Ben Barnes from “The Punisher” except if he was shot with a filter to give him Disney Prince wide doe eyes. Niney’s performance is vigorous and broad in terms of physical and psychological range. He takes Dantès on an emotional journey from innocent, idealistic adventurer to despairing, hopeless, wizened prisoner then transforms once again into the mysterious count with a taste for villain outfits inspired from “V for Vendetta” (2005) accompanied with slow-mo shots to evoke how impressive he is. Then just when he is comfortable in his lane, he must show a hard-won warmth to not turn everyone against him and redeem his soul. The average actor would have stumbled at some point, but he never does. His performance will inspire you to seek out more of his work. I’d like to see him as the titular character in “Yves Saint Laurent” (2014) but am open to recommendations if there is a better movie that reflects his talents.
If you recall, Dumas is the dude who wrote bangers like “Les Misérables,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” and “The Three Musketeers” so do not let the runtime or subtitles deter you. Authorship of this particular novel was litigated, and Auguste Maquet got more money as a collaborator, but not a writing credit. While neither condoning nor disapproving, families filled the audience and included middle schoolers to teenagers, who were better behaved than some adults. The age of a story can be a sign of its endurance, not dust. For those looking for pure entertainment, there is romance, swashbuckling, and stunts. Classic movies like “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) and hit television series like “Game of Thrones,” especially characters like Aria, owe a debt to Dumas, especially since most viewers will never realize that these stories originated in the nineteenth century before moving pictures existed.
For those looking for something deeper, Dantès sees himself as an instrument of justice. He goes from a naïve, apolitical ingenue to God’s arm purging all the corrupt, powerful elements in French society for personal reasons, not philosophical or political ones, which makes him a natural ally to foreigners like Haydée (Anamaria Vartolomei), orphans like Andréa (Julien De Saint Jean, who resembles a young Rufus Sewell) and exploited women like Angèle (Adèle Simphal). He is basically a scholarship kid who did a little too well and had to be shoved below his birth station. In those days, the church was the good guy so when Abbé Faria (Pierfrancesco Favino) pops into his cell, it is a sign that God intervenes to end Dantès’ unjust suffering and put a stop to human injustice. The problem is that Dantès is so driven that he could end up hurting those that he loves and becomes what he hates: another callous privileged man who prioritizes his agenda over justice and the well-being of others. Also Dantès is a bit mad. He obsessively rehearses conversations in his free time and pours over the clues that he compiled that uncover the conspiracy against him. He is totally right to feel aggrieved, but he is destroying himself in the process. He is still relatively young and hot but never heard the adage that the best revenge is living well. He does not know her.
“The Count of Monte Cristo” is not exactly a faithful rendition of the original, but the changes are barely noticeable if you have not touched the book in a long time. Codirectors and cowriters Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte do a little gender bending with some characters, inject more action and drama into the revenge plot, offer more age-appropriate romances, condense storylines, and kill off others instead of allowing Dantès to set the scales right for as many characters on screen as in the book. Angèle’s story is completely new and seems to be borrowed from other Dumas’ tales and “Revenge” (1990). Abbé has a more adventurous storyline. The changes work because they amplify characters’ traits and streamline the story, so it does not lose momentum. They eschew going through the logistics of Dantès’ ascent to becoming the Count—where does the torch come from. Caderousse (Stéphane Varupenne), a witness to the conspiracy and unwilling participant, does not play as pivotal and mercurial role as he did in the novel and probably could have been omitted except then Niney would not get another opportunity to show his chameleon like abilities. Andréa is a character whose name and history changes in the translation from the page to screen, and it works. While he cosigns Dantès’ plan, he is also more stubborn and strikes out independently after faithfully executing it.
“The Count of Monte Cristo” only misses a step in its treatment of Victoria (Julie De Bona), the mistress of one of the conspirators who does not actively plot against Dantès. She barely gets any lines but catches the most strays in Dantès’ vengeance. Old girl is going through it to such a high degree that it is easy to wonder if she killed Dantès’ dog or stole one sock from each of Dantès’ pairs. Along with Angèle and Dantès, Victoria seems to be the most emotionally and physically affected, but the women do not get any catharsis, which is realistic, but damn. Through all the twists and turns, it was frustrating not to get a sense of how her storyline ended.
On a different note, “The Count of Monte Cristo” alludes to a lot of sexual trafficking, but never shows it, which is consistent with the original story, but it is a little disconcerting to see how the women’s psyche is so chill about it even as one character looks completely mortally ruined from the experience. Regardless of station, the one consistent theme seems to be a precariousness in security for women, which makes Dantès’ first love, Mercédès, seem like an odd exception to the rule as the denouement approaches. There was a missed opportunity to link it to slavery, which is the profession of one of the conspirators, which is casually referenced, not a major plot point, including the plight of indigenous people.
“The Count of Monte Cristo” is an old-fashioned movie in the best sense. The adventure has momentum, style and purpose instead of just adventure for empty thrills. Dantès’ relatable and sympathetic plight has won the favor of followers spanning three centuries, and the release of this movie coincides with a television series starring Sam Claflin. It is also a sumptuous visual feast where the blue of the water is surreal and tempting and the black of the horses is like a starless sky. Treat yourself to a night of quality entertainment.
Side note: France submitted “Emilia Pérez” (2024) over “The Count of Monte Cristo” to the 97th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. Only time will tell if they bet on the wrong horse. “Emilia Pérez” is more daring and superficially checks a lot of boxes, but “The Count of Monte Cristo” is more consistent and confident in each moment because it comes from a place of comfort with the material by adapting what it knows.
