When I first saw that Dafoe was playing Goblin and they had that picture of him smiling (that scary smile of his), I thought, "Oh *****, he looks just like the Goblin! I can't wait to see him in green makeup!!" Then I saw the helmet and thought I was going to croak.
I hated the Goblin costume in SM1. Hated it. And I cringe when I see it today. But, as far as practicallity goes, yeah, it makes sense. Doc Ocks arms were very practical and made sense. I missed his bowl cut and Elton John glasses but I guess that would look goofy too. Not as goofy as a man in tights and a holloween mask flying around throwing pumkins at people, but goofy enough. Haha, could you imagine them trying to do those huge eyes?
I guess if they had designed it better or made it more agile-looking (it looks so uncomfortable), I'd be more cool with it. There were some really nice lookin' designs out there for the suit. They could've made the helmet cover the top part of his head with a similar yellow eye/goggle thing going on, but leave his jaw and especially mouth open for us to see that evil grin. But we got this monochrome, spraypainted, looking thing (I'm refraining from comparing it to costumes from a certain former FOX Saturday morning TV show).
So, if it is all about the costumes, I hope they do a much better job this time around. I understand that some costumes simply don't transition well to film or real life but I think, especially after seeing Batman Begins, its possible to pay respect to the original costume.
Oh, and don't forget that Arad said they're saving the White Spider for something else...