There are more action sequences, I believe, but the emotional is actually STRONGER and the arcs are STRONGER than they ever have been before. Which I was surprised about, I mean you have this much stuff going on so it upped the ante in terms of action... but in terms of drama and emotion? It definitely did as well.
Most of the novel was the story, these emotions and character arcs while the action was just a bonus.
EVERY aspect of Spider-Man was readily improved upon, hell one of the things that impresses me the most is that MJ gets her own story arc that is very involving and intricate rather than just being "the girl" again. All in all, as I keep on saying- I readily think this will probably be the best Spider-Man film made if not best super hero film ever made. It just has so much to it: drama, action, symbology and metaphors, it's jam packed. This is truly the AMAZING Spider-Man.