I love it. It stayed true to the Origin of Spider-Man. I actually loved the fact that it was a story focused on Peter Parker. Every movie has some flaws, and every one seems to be wondering what happened to his parents and to Dr. Conners, okay well guys there's gonna be a 2nd one, they're writing a script. Of course they're not gonna tell us what happened in the first film if they want to make this a trilogy. Second, watch the ending credits! There is a scene that has Dr. Conners that can potentially lead to a second one. Also, if you're gonna bash this movie, come up with better reasons then the lack of action. Because honestly, this movie had a good balance of action. Plus it's not a Spider-Man movie, it's a Peter Parker movie.
If you are a purist, you're bound to hate it. It's a good film if you ignore the comic book origin altogether. I'm not even a fan of the character but I liked the film. It was annoying how the writers switched Gwen Stacy and George Stacy's characters - in the comics their sentiment towards Peter Parker/Spider-Man was the other way around, I also found the isolation of the character The Lizard quite similar to Doc Ock's in Raimi's Spider-Man 2. But saying all that, I was still entertained but don't see any point in rebooting the franchise unless the studio has plans to eventually incorporate with Marvel-Disney. Once again, I'm not a Marvel fan in general but they know how to tell great stories when it comes to live action genre and I'm expecting Spider-Man to appear in one of the Marvel-Disney films in the near future. By the time Avengers 2 comes out, the studios definitely will have sorted something out. But yes, I did very much enjoy the film - the entire cast did a fantastic job, must say.
I loved it too, a definite 8-star movie.
I think for whatever hate it is getting maybe in part due to a "been there, done that" feel.
Well, if you are talking about the review rating, it seems that critics are unable to distinguish exactly what a reboot is suppose to do. 95% or so of the negative reviews are "we already saw him get bit by a spider". Seeing how this isn't a continuation of that series, I believe they should judge the film on its own merits, but for whatever reason they are unable to do that.