****(This review has spoilers for both the book and the movie.)****
The Count of Monte Cristo is probably my favorite book of all time. It has many interesting and memorable characters and an intricate plot. I think a proper adaptation of this book would probably take around 9 or 10 hours. Obviously, this movie isn't that long so it would have been very unfair to expect it to stick very close to the novel. I didn't and I thought it was fairly entertaining. I didn't really mind many changes to the novel.
I liked the performances of Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce. But I did not like Dagmara Dominczyk as Mercedès. She doesn't speak her lines. She breathes them, probably because she thought that would make them sound more dramatic. Most of the other actors were alright.
I'm no expert on what 19th century France looked like and how French people who lived during that time dressed like, but I thought the sets and costumes were good. I also liked the soundtrack.
There were some changes to the novel that I'll admit I don't think should have been made. Albert should have been Fernand's son, not Edmond's. In the book, Albert is shown to be brave and honorable in contrast to his father and he has to come to accept the fact that his father's sins aren't his own. Making him Edmond's son kind of takes away the drama in all that. Also, the part of Danglars is too small. This was probably done to develop Villefort more. I thought Danglars was a more important villain in the book and if they were going to cut out the whole subplot with Benedetto/Andrea Cavalcanti, they should have just made Danglars's part larger and shrunk Villefort's.
One change from the book that I did like was that Edmond married Mercedès and adopted Albert. In the book, Mercedès becomes a nun, Albert goes to Africa to fight a war to regain his honor, and Edmond marries a girl who is, if I remember right, about half his age, which I thought was a bit disappointing.
So, overall, this movie isn't all that bad if you're not expecting it to stick very close to the book.
The Count of Monte Cristo is probably my favorite book of all time. It has many interesting and memorable characters and an intricate plot. I think a proper adaptation of this book would probably take around 9 or 10 hours. Obviously, this movie isn't that long so it would have been very unfair to expect it to stick very close to the novel. I didn't and I thought it was fairly entertaining. I didn't really mind many changes to the novel.
I liked the performances of Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce. But I did not like Dagmara Dominczyk as Mercedès. She doesn't speak her lines. She breathes them, probably because she thought that would make them sound more dramatic. Most of the other actors were alright.
I'm no expert on what 19th century France looked like and how French people who lived during that time dressed like, but I thought the sets and costumes were good. I also liked the soundtrack.
There were some changes to the novel that I'll admit I don't think should have been made. Albert should have been Fernand's son, not Edmond's. In the book, Albert is shown to be brave and honorable in contrast to his father and he has to come to accept the fact that his father's sins aren't his own. Making him Edmond's son kind of takes away the drama in all that. Also, the part of Danglars is too small. This was probably done to develop Villefort more. I thought Danglars was a more important villain in the book and if they were going to cut out the whole subplot with Benedetto/Andrea Cavalcanti, they should have just made Danglars's part larger and shrunk Villefort's.
One change from the book that I did like was that Edmond married Mercedès and adopted Albert. In the book, Mercedès becomes a nun, Albert goes to Africa to fight a war to regain his honor, and Edmond marries a girl who is, if I remember right, about half his age, which I thought was a bit disappointing.
So, overall, this movie isn't all that bad if you're not expecting it to stick very close to the book.