In spite of the obligatory Hollywoodisation of Alexandre Dumas's 1844 epic this remains a cracking yarn.

In the great tradition of romantic adventures it follows the rollercoaster fortunes of a young man of modest means who is first betrayed by his best friend, robbed of his betrothed and plunged into a remote fortress prison before he is plucked from misfortune, becomes fabulously wealthy and returns under a new identity to exact revenge on those who made his life a misery.

The story is so full of incident and intrigue, that even screenwriter Jay Wolpert's cringeworthy attempts to inject some modern humour, fail to scupper it.

Kevin Reynolds, the man who directed box office bomb Waterworld and "Rahbin" Hood Prince of Thieves, also manages to keep an even keel by focusing on what he does best - creating full-blown period atmosphere and swashbuckling action (duels at dawn, sword fights, horseback chases and so on) - and allowing this vivid story to unfold at a steady clip.

The tale begins in 1814. Relatively unknown Jim Caviezel (Frequency, Thin Red Line) plays Edmond Dantes, a low-born sailor from Marseilles, who rows ashore on the island of Elba in a vain attempt to save his ailing captain. In return for help from the captive Napoleon Bonaparte (Alex Norton looking much more burly than the "little emperor", although he has screen presence), Dantes naively agrees to deliver a secret letter for the emperor.

The death of his captain brings Dantes shortlived good fortune - on his return to Marseilles he is promoted to captain of the ship. Overjoyed, he proposes to his loved one, the ravishing Mercedes Iguanada (Dagmara Dominczyk) but is branded a traitor when his aristocratic "friend", the jealous Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce camping it up bigtime) and the snubbed ship's first mate inform the authorities about the letter. An ambitious local magistrate, Villefort (James Frain), condemns the innocent Dantes to the remote island prison fortress, Chateau D'If, where Dantes will remain forgotten for many years.

Jim Caviezel is not the most versatile of actors. He has a brooding, difficult-to-read intensity that works against him up until this point. He works hard at depicting the guileless young Dantes with a headful of notions about honour and duty, and you can tell he's working hard. However, once his character starts to suffer, Caviezel slips more easily into the part. He also looks convincing gallavanting around with a rapier in his hand when the part later calls for it.

Locked away in a solitary cell and whipped each year by the sadistic prison warden Dorleac (Micheal Wincott) Dantes' hair and beard grow long. He chases bugs. He stares at the words "God will give me justice" carved in the wall. He counts the stones in the wall.

His solitariness is shattered by the sudden arrival of a white-haired fellow prisoner, Abbe Faria (Richard Harris on excellent form) whose escape tunnel has vered off-course. In what becomes an enjoyable master and pupil partnership, the educated Faria shares his knowledge, wisdom and swordfighting skills with the illiterate Dantes - skills that will prove useful when he hatches his plans for revenge.

Faria also provides the key to the next stage of the adventure, involving hidden treasure, Portugese pirates and revisiting the ghosts of his past life. In spite of Faria's ominous warnings about putting the past behind him, there is never any doubt that revenge is what drives Dantes and you can't help but get on his side.

Some things about the movie don't add up. Most striking, is that nobody seems to age over the period of a decade and a half. Also, when Dantes returns to Paris his disguise consists of a beard (and his wealth), making a mockery of the conspiring Mondego's and Villefort's attempts to establish exactly who he is.

At other times, scenes don't appear to have been thought through clearly, for example, a prisoner knows that you don't give him a loaded gun when he has a clear shot of his captor. Also, blatantly anachronistic dialogue, lines like "You should get out more", serve to cheapen the film.

These kind of scriptual liberties threaten to break the spell, but the lavishly shot film still maintains an air of authenticity. Just as you would turn a blind eye to the flaws of the best swashbuckling, matinee melodramas, so you should do here.