I love this game. It's funny that I took about a year to get around to playing it. It's very hard to say whether this game is better than the original since I love them both but I can say that this version has better cutscenes (in my opinion) and I don't just mean because of the graphics and virtual cinematography. I'd say that the characters are portrayed better, with some extra flavors not present in the original.
The gameplay is less frustrating in terms of being able to move the camera independent of Leon's forward position (and not have it snap back into place which has messed me up A LOT in the original) and a significant reduction in QTEs. The QTEs were so abundant in the original, I instinctively was pressing the buttons during cutscenes then beating myself up when I remembered I didn't have to do that anymore.
They also improved some of the journey like getting rid of unimportant segments (U-3 boss fight, anyone?), fixing the plot hole about Leon being captured but the enemies didn't take his weapons away, and adding handy shortcuts throughout the game.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game. This is one of the few games I've felt the desire to 100% in years. Purely based on how fun it is to play and the many unlockables you can earn. I'm going to enjoy getting to watch the cutscenes all over again. Oh, and checking out Separate Ways finally.