Here is an interesting article that tries to give TPM a second chance: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-wars/16258/in-defence-of-the-phantom-menace
Another one that says basically the same thing, with a box-office ranking perspective: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/09/01/star-wars-box-office-the-phantom-menace-is-one-the-leggiest-blockbusters-ever/#15af9f38ab0f
This one is written in French but is IMHO the most interesting thing written about TPM : https://www.ecranlarge.com/films/dossier/972763-star-wars-et-si-la-prelogie-de-george-lucas-n-etait-pas-aussi-catastrophique-qu-on-le-pense
It says that the errors made in the prelogy ARE what makes the prelogy interesting.
Here is the summary :
If the prelogy accumulates errors and mistakes of taste, it is nevertheless exciting in what it tells once it has been sorted. At a time when Disney shamelessly capitalizes on the franchise and seems determined to prolong it ad nauseam without really digging the heart of his subject and always using the same strings, Lucas had made us an original proposal and highly subversive. To criticize both the system he created himself and the world in which we all live by using something universal and winning the support of everyone to convey an important message.
Yes the result is wobbly, yes Lucas has not lived up to his ambition, but that is precisely what makes his work so exciting. To see the struggle of a man against himself, against his creation that has surpassed him and an audience that thinks that the saga belongs totally to the audience and that its inventor must go in its direction.
Somewhere comes the idea that George Lucas may have managed his bet. Not in the films itself but in their context and reception. He proved to us that we were all potential dictators as soon as we touch our heart, our instinct and our passion and that it takes little to swing from the dark side.
(I do not try to make you change your mind, but just to show that apart from the hardcore fans of the original trilogy, other opinions, sometimes well written and well documented, can also exist.)