The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

This is a damn good one with all sorts of nice touches.  The story is enormous spanning like fifteen years or some shit.  Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel (Highwaymen, G.I. Jane)) is betrayed by his best friend Mondego (Guy Pearce (Ravenous, Prometheus)) who tips off the authorities about some bullshit crime Dantes committed.  He’s then imprisoned at the Chateau d’If which is located far off on a tiny island like Alcatraz.  There he learns book smarts and how to fight from a wise old prisoner (Richard Harris (Unforgiven, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)).  The sage also tells Dantes about a hidden treasure that’s located somewhere on the island of Monte Cristo.  Dantes escapes, finds the treasure and enacts his revenge against Mondego and everyone else who wronged him.

Man, it’s a larger than life tale and so beautifully constructed.  You have a happy man who gets everything dear to him stripped away which backs him into a corner.  He’s down but not out.  And holy shit does he come back with a vengeance.  He tears everyone a new asshole.

There are a bunch of versions out there but it’s hard to imagine topping this latest one.  The acting is good, the pacing is great, the cinematography is beautiful and the directing is steady as a rock.  So it’s pretty weird that Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, One Eight Seven) directed this.  This one doesn’t have his usual mark of muddy storytelling or bad performances out of his actors.  It’s like really well made actually.  I haven’t seen all of his films but I have seen half of them and this is by far his best.

Yea I know they changed things around a bit from the book so it’s not the most faithful adaptation.  But it works regardless.  The back stabbing best friend was a badass twist in particular.  It perfectly fits the high drama of the rest of the plot.    

Guys I’m tellin’ you, if you like pictures that are just oozing with adventure like Raiders and The Princess Bride (ok, it’s not as good as either one of those but you get my point) then you can’t go wrong with this well executed timeless piece.