This is something I've had to face for years as Doctor Who fan.
Certain stories which are corny and cheesy now and were almost certainly at the time of broadcast are not an excuse or a point of reference for the series idea or a sign post for future episodes.
Just because something looked like a pantomime at times when it was low budget and the cultural style was generally gaudy it doesn't mean you keep doing it now you have a bit of cash and the audience doesn't need to be reminded they are watching the thing with the novelty of colour.
The long effects sequences in TMP are perfectly justified by the plot and have a narrative impact.
When the Enterprise is fondled by Kirk's shuttle pass we are getting a love scene, possibly the only one real Kirk could film (I never saw Kirk as a narcissist so the joke about him kissing himself in TUC didn't work for me).
We are also meant to be impressed by the scale of it, we see a little human alongside the thing.
We then get the cloud penetration sequence which is basically an extended striptease for the V'Ger vessel.
A craft so huge that structures resemble biology and the formerly gigantic scale of the Enterprise established in the previous sequence is in comparison microscopic.
We are left to ponder what could have made such an alien thing.
The reveal that it was all caused by us by accident may not be original but has added impact because of those slow effects sequences.
The fast effects sequences of the PT have none of that narrative impact.
Also the characters are the characters of the show but after the passage of time and the change of circumstances.
It would have helped if there was an established catalyst for Spock wishing to purge his emotions (I imagined he found it impossible to return home after adapting to the environment on the five year mission but there could have been some other event like an emotional trauma which he retreated from rather than adapt too).
I find the crew of TMP to be much more compelling and interesting to watch than the crew of TUC and they are mostly played by the same actors... mostly.
BTW I would never ever, ever use the word lame in that lame fashion.