My Review of "The Count of Monte Cristo"

The Count of Monte Cristo came out in 2002. At the time I was a young man and really gravitated to this movie. It made me want to read the classic novel later on. At the time I usually didn't like these types of period tales especially one that would take its time to tell the story. This is a two hour epic that doesn't have a lot of action involved in it. It was the build up of the characters and story that really drew me to this one.

To give you some context to the story this is based in France during the early 19th century just after Napoleon Bonaparte had been taken captive from trying to take over the world.

The story starts off with two close friends named Edmond and Fernand. Edmond is a wide eyed commoner and Fernand is born into nobility. Somehow these two became closest of friends in childhood and continued to be friends into young adulthood.

The two work on a ship but their captain had suddenly become ill. They had no way of saving him so they decide to land on Elba Island. This is of course the famous island in which they held Napoleon captive. Edmond being naive of everything in the world agrees to carry a letter from Napoleon back to his hometown of Marseille. It's basically compensation for using Napoleons medics to try to save his captain.

Fernand being the jealous type sees this transaction and is angered at Edmond's rise in life when they return to Marseille. For his actions on Elba Island, Edmond has been promoted to captain and has enough money to marry his fiancé Mercedes. Fernand hates the fact that he's unhappy with all the riches he's inherited while Edmond is so happy with everything he's earning.

This is when the huge double cross happens. Fernand basically throws Edmond under the bus by claiming Edmond is a traitor by helping Napoleon. This has a huge cascading affect that results in Edmond being imprisoned to the infamous Chateau D'If.

There Edmond will be left to rot for the rest of his life. Well that wouldn't be a great movie. Edmond there meets a priest that collaborates with Edmond to escape the prison. They take years of doing it but during those years the priest teaches Edmond everything he knows.

All this knowledge that Edmond retains from the priest fuels his fire to enact revenge on Fernand and the system that falsely imprisoned him. It's a hell of a revenge ride. I really loved this revenge ride because it took its time to tell the story. They give us the pieces slowly so that we can digest the magnitude of each piece of the game. We're learning at the same time as Edmond and when things get revealed we take that same gasp of air.

The set pieces for this movie are spectacular. Although, I've never been to Marseille or any of the locales involved in this movie I had a small urge to want to visit these places. They probably have a tour out there for tourists based on this story.

I also liked the fact that this movie makes you feel like this could have been reality blurred into fiction. This story could very well have been based on something similar in real life. There's a sense of realism and believability that keeps this movie grounded. Again I loved this movie back in the day, that's probably due to the relatability towards the characters and situations in this movie.

There are also very inspiring scenes in this movie. Those that are down on their luck will enjoy this movie immensely because it's the power of faith. Edmond overcomes the odds despite the fact that everything was against him. He shows that we should all see the opportunities around us because you never know when things are shining upon us.

Overall, I still love this movie. I come back to this over and over again throughout the decades. As it didn't have a lot of action sequences I found that this movie has aged like fine wine. It's a classic tale of revenge that I think a ton of people will enjoy. It's family friendly and I think the appeal is global. I have to give this movie a 9 out of 10. I could watch this whenever it's on and just get engaged with it.