After watching the kung fu style movie version which is, The Musketeer I figured with my monthly recommendation for June I find another of Alexandre Dumas books that's been adapted to the big screen and as luck would have it I browsed through my DVD collection and found The Count of Monte Cristo, upon which is another one of those underappreciate classics that I haven't seen in a very long time. The Count of Monte Cristo stars Jim Caviezel before he became our Lord and Savior hence The Passion of the Christ and Guy Pierce because let’s be honest whenever you’re in need to call for a bad guy, you call for a Brit to save the day. But of all the actors involved in the epic film, the most important actor in the film is Henry Cavil who later in life became a legendary bad a** in upcoming films.
The classic story of an innocent man wrongly, but deliberately imprisoned and his brilliant strategy for revenge against those who betrayed him. Dashing young sailor Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel) is a guileless and honest young man who whose peaceful life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk) are abruptly shattered when his best friend Fernand (Guy Pierce), who wants Mercedes for himself, deceives him.
The interesting fact behind the Count of Monte Cristo is that Alexandre Dumas father, Thomas Alexandre Dumas was an actual General during the French Revolution who went to blows with Napoleon Bonaparte for which was later thrown in the Dungeons for the rest of his life and so when Alexandre Dumas became of age he wrote The Count of Monte Cristo as of inspiration for his own father. I've seen a few, maybe a good portion of films that contain the whole revenge theme. And really watching The Count of Monte Cristo I got to say that this film alone is the most perfect revenge movie of all time, in fact there has been a bunch of adaptions to Alexandre Dumas book but something about Kevin Reynolds version makes the movie more pleasing but more importantly gives some good advice on life. At the time the film’s release I didn't think a whole much of the movie other than hearing that Jim Caviezel who stared along with Dennis Quaid in the film Frequency and again all I remember was some epic sword fighting as well as revenge, and again I was young and didn't think much of the story. Until now, this is probably one of the best adaptions in my opinion to Alexandre Dumas book, and granted I've never seen the other films, nor do I have any intentions to read the book for many reasons the book gives a life lesson in that revenge doesn't satisfy. Which to me doesn't seem satisfying in my opinion, just because when you watch this film and you see the hell the Caviezel's character goes through the course of the first part of the movie you see that his enemies deserve worse than he had, but then you have moments in the films where he does begin to soften and gets a lesson learned moment by the end of the movie and yet again his enemies still get what they deserve. Jim Caviezel really delivers a grand performance as the lead character mainly is through the course of the movie the amount of severe hell, he goes through and his consumption of revenge he just does such a fantastic job in showing the pain in his soul as well as his rage but most importantly his sense of compassion and the interesting thing about Caviezel's performance is that he filled with rage and it takes more of his trusted friend in Luis Guzman and his lover Dagmara Dominczyk who lets him know that he's given a chance and not throw it away, so really Caviezel also does a fantastic job in being this conflicted character through the second and third act of the movie. Guy Pierce surprisingly was offered the role Jim Caviezel plays in the movie, but he was more interested in Fernand part because he likes the idea of playing a bad guy who goes to his absolute downfall for which he really does a great job in that as well. The late Richard Harris (original Dumbledore) also does a fantastic job playing Jim's cellmate as well as the mentor teaching him all he needs to know to escape, and surprising this was Richard Harris's second to last film before he died in October of 2002. I don't want to give so much away because this has been a movie that's been inside a shelf for a long time and no one has brought this movie up to the light and really what makes this film great is that it's truly about a man being wronged and sentenced to a life of hell, escapes and plans a quest for revenge on those who wronged him but through the course of the his revenge he begins to see a second chance of life and decides whether he can go on with his revenge and really what Kevin Reynolds does great in the film is that he gives you a reason to root for the main protagonist as well as give you a sense of happiness by the end of the movie and the book you really don't get that satisfaction karma the antagonist gets through the end of the book but a life lesson and for me as an audience member I would prefer watching this version of the Count of Monte Cristo more than reading the book or watching other films because this film contains all the things I want in a true revenge movie would have. Now if I had to rank the best revenge themed films of all time it would most certainly be The Count of Monte Cristo and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films for sure those would be the go-to films I would continue to watch repeatedly. So, if you’re into the action-adventure films with a taste for revenge then I would highly recommend watching The Count of Monte Cristo and though you'd have to buy the film on a website or on your phone, I will promise you this when I say it that the film is worth the money as well as the watch.
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