To be perfectly honest I think I prefer the original Raimi adaptation. I don't even really remember it too well, but it still sits in my mind as a more solid and faithful film. While this version gets certain elements right (mechanical webshooters and witty banter) it just doesn't come together as well as it should have.
My main issue is with how Dr. Curt Connors is portrayed, which really does not do the character justice. The Lizard is a great Spider-Man villain that has a lot more to him that just wasn't explored as well as it could have been. These are my main points:
- When Curt's arm regenerates we aren't given any time to see how miraculous this should be to a man such as him. His life goal was to feel "normal" and "equal" to his fellow man, yet we're given all of two minutes before he completely transformation into the Lizard. While him waking up and tearing open the growth to reveal his new arm was beautiful, I would have liked to see much more of the film devoted toward Curt's degeneration.
Curt is too kind. He should be a cold-blooded, sociopathic side to him that fuels his transition into a reptile. They should have explored more of a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" duality to him as a human and a monster. There was clearly more to his personality as seen in early trailers, such as a god-complex, but they cut all that.
Turning back into a human. That's fucking stupid science, even if you're willing to accept viral transgenics within a few hours. Keep him as the Lizard until at least the end of the film and don't make him so apparently reptilian. They should have just given him a tail and flesh-colored, off-toned scales.
He lacks a rational or clear goal. Despite how simple the film makes his eventual plan it still ends up confusing you by trying to make you wonder what it might be until the big reveal. Even then, turning everyone into lizards-people? That's as dumb as Gorilla Grodd's master plan of turning everyone into gorillas. Makes you miss the Goblin's insanity.
The film has other issues, but I didn't think any of them as poor as how they handled the antagonist. The story really only is as strong as your villain and they squandered one of Spider-Man's best. I still consider Willem Defoe as the Goblin to be one of the best film portrayals of a super-villain out there.
