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You need to consider Citizen Kane in the context of the time that it was released.
When you do, it's not hard to make a case that the film was extraordinary. But I would argue that it still stands up remarkably well even without reference to its era. Because let's be honest, the vast majority of movie viewers really do not care about the technical details of the special effects. Indeed the whole point of special effects is to trick you into not noticing they are there, lest the 4th wall be broken.
Whether one finds the story interesting is partly a matter of taste. It's primarily a character study, which by definition means the plot takes a back seat to characterization. The plot framework is oriented around revealing interesting details about the subject. Often, whether any one person enjoys the story depends on how interesting they find the character chosen, regardless of how artistic the movie might be. Citizen Kane vs Scarface vs Amadeus vs Forrest Gump vs The Big Lebowski-- you can't sketch them all in the same movie and obviously different people will be drawn to different characters.
And of course, some movies are less purely character studies than others. The Big Lebowski is also a farce and Scarface is also a crime drama. Gump and Kane are pretty much just biopics/character pieces.