I actually thought Jake Johnson did the best in terms of capturing the original comics character (albeit with the added context of it being an older Spidey who'd kinda made a mess of things and needed a push to make them right).

For live action, each seemed to take on a different facet of the character. I think Tobey Maguire came out the best, with the emphasis of the burden the mantle had and his trying to navigate life with all the plates he needed to keep spinning (unlike they other films, it was Peter first, Spidey second, which is a better fit to the comics), while Tom Holland got the eager rookie we see in the early issues (and Ultimate) trying to find where he fit really well, as well as being the only one to nail the chatty, jokey nature of the character (Maguire got the ironic situations that the comics did so well but not the one-liners, and I have no idea what Andrew Garfield was doing).

Andrew Garfield was a good actor who was given a badly-written version of the character.

Quote Originally Posted by Mauled View Post
...however if you're going to next say that Kirsten Dunst was a good MJ we are going to have words
Okay, let's have words.

I'll concede that MJ in those movies wasn't a carbon copy of her source material counterpart, but I think a lot of the changes made more sense for the film narrative. Case in point, if they'd followed suit with us only seeing the shallow party girl mask at first, we'd be scratching our heads at why Peter was pining for this woman. So, while there are some scenes that communicate the point that she hides her problems under a carefree veneer (e.g. when Flash shows up with the car, her trying to hide that she's a struggling waitress), it's toned down to communicate the point that Peter is someone MJ trusts enough to be herself (e.g. her opening up as they consider where they'll go after high school in the backyard scene). That gives a better foundation to the relationship for the film's narrative and makes it easier for us to root for them, since we can see that they're good for each other and all that.

I can concede the point that comic book MJ remained pretty lively even after maturing and balancing herself out, while the movie showcases the more serious aspects of the character, but the struggles she has are pretty well rooted in the comics (bad relationship with her father, low self-esteem, etc.). The adaptation only has so much time to cover, so they have to pick and choose which parts of the character to explore, and it makes sense why the did what they did here. Movie MJ may be admittedly a more "girl next door" type a la the Ultimate comics then 616 was, but, once again, worked in the context of the story it was telling, and I'd rather have that then something slavish to the source material irregardless of how well it fits the new medium.