I never saw the original.
I was expecting more of a story along the lines of Cogburn being thought of as more of a legend and they *thought* he was nothing but a drunken joke, then the girl is taken, and then Cogburn comes back with a vengeance and makes the bad guys rue the day.
I thought the acting was fantastic. I think critics and people in general fall in love with that. Reminds me of 'There Will Be Blood.' 'There Will Be Blood' was a terribly written movie and really just a complete mess...but the acting in general was good and Daniel Day Lewis' acting was phenomenal. In the end it came away with rave reviews, but I personally don't see how anybody can justify the *movie* as being great. If Lewis was replaced by a decent actor who did a decent job, they'd pan the entire movie.
Same thing here. Bridges is excellent and so is the rest of the cast, but the moview itself was nothing to write home about.
3JACK