These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: The Phantom Menace
Angst? What Angst?: In this film, Anakin doesn't seem to have any real gripes about being raised as a slave from birth. If anything, he seems to have more angst about being freed, since it means leaving his mother behind. This a bit ironic, considering one of the biggest complaints about Anakin's portrayal in the next two films is that he's too angsty.
Ani's just a kid when he leaves; he doesn't know any better. When you tack on years away from Mom with no contact, Obi-Wan's less-than-warm personality during training, and Ani's natural teenage whininess, his later attitude makes more sense.
He is, but it's quite subtle. You can see that he's clearly angry when Padme asks him if he is a slave.
Critical Backlash: Like the whole Prequel trilogy, this movie gets this a lot.
Ensemble Darkhorse: Darth Maul was a coldly efficient badass who takes on two skilled Jedi (who we've seen take on hordes of battle droids) and positively makes them look like amateurs. It is such that his performer, Ray Park, is a fan favorite actor despite only speaking a handful of lines in the movie (that were dubbed anyway).
Evil is Cool: Again Darth Maul, for the same reasons (as well as the double-ended Laser Blade).
Hilarious in Hindsight: In Mars Attacks!, Natalie Portman appears in a scene mocking the final award scene in A New Hope. Here she appears, playing the exact same role within the scene, in a straight Homage.
Hype Backlash: Everyone had really high expectations after 16 years. Many ended up disappointed.
Nightmare Fuel: The journey through Naboo's core features the heroes' Gungan submarine getting attacked by a series of freaky-looking◊ sea monsters◊. The largest of them all (and the inspiration for Qui-Gon's infamous "There's always a bigger fish" line) even has a built-in◊ Slasher Smile.
Also falls into Alien Scrappy/Ethnic Scrappy territory. He's a Scrappy Casserole, a dish you really don't want to eat.
Special Effect Failure: There's two major instances, the most noticeable is when Darth Maul falls down a pit after he dies, he's a CG double that somehow sounds like rubber.
The animation for Jar Jar has not aged well, especially compared to the other fully CG characters like Boss Nass and Watto.
Tastes Like Diabetes: The infamous "Are you an angel?" scene, along with several other lines by Anakin.
Unfortunate Implications: The use of real life accents to distinguish fictional Star Wars factions could play in to unfortunate racial stereotypes.
Interestingly, the language localizations changed the Trade Federation to represent different stereotypes each time.
Also, Obi-Wan calling Jar-Jar a "lower lifeform".
As mentioned above, Anakin's life as a slave is shown as relatively happy and tranquil, and the man who owns him is presented as a decent guy (though he's pretty greedy). And being freed seems to give him more angst than being a slave, since it means leaving his family behind.
This isn't entirely unrealistic though, especially the last part. Skilled labor slaves like Anakin were often treated fairly well in the real world, and families being broken up when only some of them were freed actually happened.
