I think you nailed it, and my wife had made comments on those lines.

The biggest hit to me is that action scenes, what seemed so cool when it first came out, now can almost see the harnesses and wires. That really pulled me out.

As for your review I agree completely, gets me thinking of the anime ghost in the shell, watched it when i was younger and it had a deep philosophical perspective, while having some pretty badass action. (And anytime you can add nudity as a functional necessity) but then gets remade and they stripped the philosophical discussion so far on the back burner that the final battle loses all meaning beyond the protagonist is being attacked. Not that it was that extreme in the sequels.