Writing/Directing duo Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière’s adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo is everything you could want in an Epic Adventure. Their lavish adaptation is one of the best films of 2024.
The recent wonderful French produced The Three Musketeer two-part adaptation breathed new life into the often-adapted tale of swashbuckling adventure. The primary reason was the adroit adaptation by screenwriters Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière. Delaporte and de La Patellière have transitioned to the director’s chair with another Dumas adaptation, The Count of Monte Cristo. The duo has made a smashing debut with the epic adventure tale of betrayal and justice giving us a modern adaptation that moves faster than most films half its runtime.
Even if one has never read Alexander Dumas’s massive novel – by osmosis one knows the tale of Edmond Dantes and the men who conspire to imprison him unjustly. So many films and TV series have either adapted or taken from Dumas’ original source material that at this point it could feel almost redundant to mount another. This adaptation takes that thesis and smashes it to pieces with a film so good and ripely made one feel they are seeing The Count of Monte Cristo adapted for the first time.
By taking root of what works and throwing out what does not from Dumas’ novel Delaporte and de La Patellière have created the best adaptation of the material. Part of the beauty of the film is its understanding of what will and will not work – even solving some of the problems that Dumas created within the original narrative, specifically the ending. The 178-minute runtime is never wasted as The Count of Monte Cristo is a chess game requiring many pieces to be put into play. However, the genius of the film and its editing is that it never feels like plot machinations but rather a rollicking tale of adventure that continually twists and turns – playing with tone the way that Dumas’ book did so well.
Delaporte and de La Patellière as directors have an eye for composition and performance. Everything feels both human and grandly cinematic with an eye for the lavish and opulent but feeling grounded. The Count of Monte Cristo is a visual feast and a true piece of cinema that plays better on the big screen and anything of recent memory. Working with Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc they’ve made a film that is both visually beautiful and forcefully astute during its action set pieces. They even manage to create a horror set piece that’s both thrilling and satisfyingly vengeful.
If one is looking for a truly magnificent time at the theaters. One that will recall the type of cinematic event like Raiders of the Lost Ark – look no further than The Count of Monte Cristo. Take the time to see it on a big screen with big sound and lots of buttery popcorn.