I've ranted about this too many times but I think this is a classic shallow take. The prequels didn't have a resurgence in appreciation because people grew up with them and therefore found them good, they just over time were judged by their merits instead of their expectations. I think if someone watched Episode 1 cold, they'd find one of the better Scifi films out there. I don't think there's been a cooler, more fast paced, multipart fight in cinema than the end of the phantom menace. Episode 2 has some terribly rough dialogue and pacing and the romance plot arc but it undeniably has style and flair and aura that few scifi films have been able to match. The chrome ships of Naboo... Fuck I'm ranting again.

The prequels are not what the original generation wanted from star wars films. They are however good, if not flawed films, that expand the world, have an artistic vision, and have a cohesive underlying story they're trying to tell. It's not the meme's that keep the movies alive it's the world and the world is 100% better off for having the prequels in them.

The sequels are the complete opposite. They're bad films or at best lazy okay films, that shrink the world while ruining the past lore, that do not have an artistic vision, that do not have an underlying story they're trying to tell. There is no rise of fascism through a failing democracy level of artistry, there is no pure heroes falling to corruption due to beaucracy and a loss of their original purpose, etc. There isn't even a vibe or an aesthetic that is worth pursuing in the sequels in my opinion - and why that is I don't really know, because I believe a lot of horribly talented people put their hearts into the appearance of the sequels but there's nothing that comes to mind that feels like it fits the vibe and is entirely new. But that's subjective. What's not subjective is that they shrunk the world, reversed the progress, contradicted the lore, and failed to provide new fertile ground for stories. I don't think someone walks away from any of the sequels individually or collectively and is inspired to tell new star wars stories where as the originals and the prequels all had that power.