You can count me among those who enjoy TPM more than TLJ, by the way.
I understand this must be a low bar for you, but what do you enjoy about TPM?
- Qui-Gon (my favorite Jedi)
- Palpatine (my favorite character in the whole saga)
- 3PO (unlike his terrible jokes from AotC, I think his humor works pretty well in TPM)
- The pod race (and the Tusken Raiders in particular…biggest laugh by far when I saw it in the theater)
- Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon vs. Darth Maul
- John Williams doing some of his best work
- Interesting plot (some people hate all the exposition and politics, but being a fan of Palpatine, I find the maneuvering and manipulation entertaining and TPM does a good job of setting up exactly how he came to power)
- Feels like Star Wars to me (totally subjective, of course)
There’s plenty technically wrong with TPM (wooden acting, sometimes questionable dialog, pacing issues, etc.), any scene with a Gungan ranges from weak to annoying, and midi-chlorians should have been left on the cutting room floor, but it managed not to ruin characters I care about while at the same time introducing me to new ones I like. And more than anything else, it reinforces the idea that training, dedication, and mindfulness are essential to gaining insight into the Force and expanding your powers, even if you’re Space Jesus.
TLJ is a great technical achievement that trashes the characters and lore I care about while failing to advance the new characters that TFA couldn’t get me to care about in the first place. And it throws a couple new terribly written characters in the mix just for fun.
The bottom line is I can ignore what I don’t like about TPM and enjoy the rest. TLJ doesn’t allow me to do that because the parts I don’t like involve main plot points and main characters, and the rest isn’t interesting enough to hold my attention.