No One Remembers the 1970's Nicholas Hammond Version? This was Better.

Rating: Null/10 (2 June 2002)

My brothers and I never could figure out why so much was changed for the Spiderman tv show back in the seventies. Why does it seem to take a good forty years before an at least honest, faithful version to the original tale can be accomplished?
Yes, some things were changed from the comic book, such as Mary Jane Watson and Flash did not go to the science exhibit (Mary Jane wasn't even in the origin back in '62) and Peter didn't create his web shooters, but now shot them straight from his hands. The wrestling match, crook at the elevator and Uncle Ben's death were all incredibly condensed together. As my brother put it, it was 200 comic book issues in one movie.
But changes do take place for movies (it will be very amusing for adults to explain why Billy Dee Williams turns into Tommy Lee Jones in the Batman movies).
A movie is only capable of showing so much before it becomes too long. Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson had both been terrorized by villians, so naturally they were each attacked by the Goblin, staying true to the comic books in that regard. Major kudos to the man, J. K. Simmons, for his depiction of J. JOnah Jameson. Peter Parker became Spiderman in high school, so I had no problem with him being young again. If he aged naturally in the comic book, he would be ready for retirement now.
Already the Green Goblin's arrival at the banquet is being compared to the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. And keep an eye out for an elderly gentleman with a white moustache and glasses in crowd shots with a small girl. It's none other than Stan "the Man" Lee himself.
The movie itself made for a nice teen hero flick, the ending as to what Peter was exactly trying to say was vague (I got the impression it was striving for a Bill Bixby/HUlk bit), but this was a good flick. As long as the upcoming Daredevil and Hulk movies remain true to the origins too, there should be no problem there, but I don't see how Dr. Banner is gonna have his nuclear testing go awry when Rick Jones shows up on the field.