I can't judge the sequels, I don't like them very well myself. But, 20 years ago the prequels came out, and at the time people were like "wtf is this?"
But now, 20 years later the movies are still very much in people's minds, they get memed, their actors make (re)appearances in contemporary Star Wars related productions etc. So they must've done something right?
Original trilogy was not Shakespeare either but a lot of fun.
The prequels were simply bad, but not insulting like the sequels. They’re adjacent to the top three franchise of history so many people saw them. Memes tend to make fun of them, from memory.
But now, 20 years later the movies are still very much in people's minds, they get memed, their actors make (re)appearances in contemporary Star Wars related productions etc. So they must've done something right?