I don't mean to offend anybody who says they liked this movie. After all, if the producers hadn't used the book's name to lure the crowds into the theaters, I may have thought of this as a relaxing, accessible, superficial flick.
And I am not one to say that I was expecting a perfect adaptation - after all, it *is* an ample, complex book that could probably never be perfectly transposed to film...
But when I saw this movie in the theater, the only thing I could think of was how much the plot line was changed - in a bad way. It almost makes one think of Edmond Dantes as a playboy and a murderer, and of Mercedes as a femme légère... and the entire story is transformed according to the screenwriter's wishful thinking.
To sum up, it basically kills the whole IDEA of Dumas's masterpiece and robs it of all its depth, in favor of a very Hollywood style. So if you have high expectations of authenticity, the book is the way to go - or at least the older adaptation starring Chamberlain.
4.5 / 10 usually, but I just can't understand the sky-high rating.
And I am not one to say that I was expecting a perfect adaptation - after all, it *is* an ample, complex book that could probably never be perfectly transposed to film...
But when I saw this movie in the theater, the only thing I could think of was how much the plot line was changed - in a bad way. It almost makes one think of Edmond Dantes as a playboy and a murderer, and of Mercedes as a femme légère... and the entire story is transformed according to the screenwriter's wishful thinking.
To sum up, it basically kills the whole IDEA of Dumas's masterpiece and robs it of all its depth, in favor of a very Hollywood style. So if you have high expectations of authenticity, the book is the way to go - or at least the older adaptation starring Chamberlain.
4.5 / 10 usually, but I just can't understand the sky-high rating.
Tell Your Friends