re: Watched the phantom menace for the first time in years

No, I don't think they get unnecessary hate. The films aren't cogent and basically disregard characterization and narrative. That doesn't invalidate the cool stuff each of them had, but it sure makes you wonder what a cogent prequel trilogy could have been like.

Lucas knew the narrative was inherent, because the outcome was already known. Given this, it appears that he sacrificed characterization for the sake of the cool stuff or the beautiful visuals. What we wanted was a film that explored a backstory which a lot of people were invested in. What we got was a film that made that backstory seem utterly idiotic. But again, there was cool stuff in it.