The Count of Monte Cristo: Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel, an ultimate revenge tale, gets a worthy adaptation by co-writers and co-directors Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte. The famous, excellent story follows Edmond Dantès, a sailor arrested on the day of his wedding on false charges and, decades later, now obscenely rich, goes back to exact revenge on the men who wronged him. The story is emotional, going for the opposition of maintaining one’s humanity versus one’s goals. Pierre Niney plays the title character with good range, from the solar and bright early character to the brooding and methodical machine later. The two main female characters are played by Anaïs Demoustier (very good as the woman Dantès was about to marry) and Anamaria Vartolomei (excellent as a young and demure co-conspirator). The film is very well made, with wonderful locations, excellent production (by Stéphane Taillasson) and costume (by Thierry Delettre) designs, nicely captured by cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc. Editor Célia Lafitedupont keeps the film always interesting and exciting, despite the long runtime. Composer Jérôme Rebotier’s musical score is very good.