It's the best of the prequels, and unlike the other two, it actually feels like a Star Wars movie.
It also used a lot of real locations and practical effects so, unlike the next two prequels, it doesn't look completely ridiculous (Although, of course Jar Jar and other things look dumb as hell). The next two are just absolutely atrocious, what the hell was Lucas thinking by shooting it all on green screen?
Still, it has some major problems, isn't a very good film, and set in stone one of the most terrible ret-cons in cinema history (Midichlorians).