Edmond Dantés's life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are shattered when his best friend, Fernand, deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantés escapes with the help of a fellow inmate and plots his revenge, cleverly insinuating himself into the French nobility.
A rousingly old-fashioned swashbuckler with an abundance of vigorous action and nary a trace of wink-wink irony.
– Joe Leydon,
Variety,
25 Jan 2002
rotten:
There's a thin line between likably old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy, and The Count of Monte Cristo ... never quite settles on either side.
– Owen Gleiberman,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Jan 2002
fresh:
Old-form moviemaking at its best.
– Stephen Hunter,
Washington Post,
3 Feb 2002
fresh:
All in all, it's a pretty good execution of a story that's a lot richer than the ones Hollywood action screenwriters usually come up with on their own.
– Don Irvine,
Globe and Mail,
19 Mar 2002
rotten:
A big, vacuous, sometimes exciting glamour-puss of a movie.