Why is this movie so hated?

There are very few Bond films where either the girl or the villain outshines Bond ( Diana Rigg in On Ypur Majesty's Secret Service comes to mind, and of course, so does Jaws ( especially in Moonraker)) In The Man With The Golden Gun, Christopher Lee outshines Roger Moore and it is not close. What is great about Lee is there is nothing over the top about him, it's just his skills against Bond, best man wins. People generally watch Bond films for girls and gadgets, here it ,was a psychological cat versus mouse battle, and Moore had to rely on brains in order to prevail. Those reasons plus a weak Bond girl ( although not the worst), is why this movie is not highly rated.

My best guesses:
*For a James Bond movie, it's actually pretty boring and sluggish

*Roger Moore still hasn't figured out how he should best play James Bond. There are times in the movie where it seems like he's trying to be like Sean Connery (i.e. a tough, no-nonsense badass, who has no qualms smacking a woman out of rage/frustration) instead of the witty, gentleman charmer that we would ultimately know him for

*The tone seems way too light and goofy (i.e. the return of J.W. Pepper, Bond being rescued by the young girls at the martial arts school, Bond pushing the elephant boy into the water, Mary Goodnight's incompetence, Bond putting Nick-Nack in a suitcase, the slide-whistle accompanying the 360 degree car stunt, etc.)

*Why did Christopher Lee's villain need to have the Solex macguffin? Isn't it already intriguing enough that we have a villain who is James Bond's "dark equal" as well as being the world's greatest assassin? The Solex stuff just padded the movie it and felt like just an excuse to give Bond a big, explosive set piece to escape from.

The only part that I really don't like is when Bond is captured by Hai Fat and sent to "school". That whole ninja sequence was just stupid not to mention the worst rescue ever by Hip. I mean seriously he just leaves Bond there?

TMWTGG has some awesome moments (like the entire final act on Scaramanga's island) and some pretty stupid moments so it averages out to be a middle of the road Bond film.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

I agree with OP. This in my opinion is one of the better James Bonds. I was young at the time I first saw it. I did not watch them in order....you don't need to. It was the right amount if adventure and humor. I do admit Moore is my favorite Bond.

.....Zing!

The cinematography feels bland, and the story is average. Christopher Lee is amazing though, so it's just a solid Bond movie at best.

My favorite Roger Moore "Bond" film

Not really a fan of amusement parks and this one has one as the villain's lair. Brit Ekland's character is too much of a bimbo. Balance of action and humour was a bit off. The villain was maybe too small scale. Also the title song is weak, surrounded be such classics as You only live twice, We have all the time in the world, Diamonds are Forever, Live and let die, Nobody does it better and Moonraker... clearly the weakest link in the continuum of great songs.

It may be my favorite among the Moore Bond films.