The movie wouldn't even exist without all the mean people who said mean things about it. They weren't being jerks, they were disappointed in a remake of something they have loved for a long time.
Personally, I think the movie could have just been a two-hour examination of the futuristic city they designed, which was beautiful and enthralling. The actual story was not very interesting at all.
The vast majority of the negativity I saw online wasn't from people who liked the original though, it was backlash to the casting. And the over-the-top hate for this movie is a genuine phenomenon; it's been months since the movie was out yet I got so much flack on various places online after I wrote this article that I felt like this (lol): http://imgur.com/a/oUL4z
My point is just to tell people who've only heard negative things (it bombed, it got bad reviews, etc.) to not be afraid to check it out. I don't think it's a bad movie and it's okay to draw one's own conclusions.
My problem with the new movie is that its only good parts felt like cheap remakes of bits of the old movie, and it left the best parts behind. There's no reason to watch the new one if you saw and liked the old one.
Personally, I think the movie could have just been a two-hour examination of the futuristic city they designed, which was beautiful and enthralling. The actual story was not very interesting at all.