Honestly, I can't see the "disappointment" behind this.

Rating: 7/10 (23 February 2005)

I think the hate behind this film is fueled by the fact that people expected Star Wars to be perfect. And it wasn't. Especially considering that George Lucas was back at the helm as director. Only a few flaws keep it from being great.
The first being that it is too slow. Half way through the film the characters show up on a planet named Corusant. These twenty to thirty minutes of film are probably the most boring and pretentious of the entire saga. Consisting of long court scenes that are too slow and for the most part lack emotional drive.
The next being Lucas' newest creation Jar-Jar Binks, a Gungan from the planet Naboo. I understand that he supposed to appeal to the younger crowd, so I can't speak for them. But as creation for anyone above the age of 12, he's simply annoying after a while. While I can see him being manageable in small doses.
The unfortunate casting of Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker. I doubt that this is the best Lucas could do. As he is rarely genuine and believable and is an all around bad actor. Much of his most embarrassing moments, acting wise, could easily have been edited out and saved us the cringe of watching dialogue that is either corny dialogue or a corny actor reading dialogue. I'm inclined to believe the latter.
Other than that and a few nitpicks, this film has nothing really incredibly wrong with it. It's solid, it's plot holds up, sets up the next film, while still being it's own film. Not to mention it's amazing and ground breaking visuals. It's a good film that doesn't deserve the hate that it receives.