Regarding BB-8 repairing Poe’s X-Wing, I agree that having dozens of little sauters or whatever sticking out is a bit too goofy, but if you just have him come down and stop just one, it sorta just feels like, “Oh. That’s it?”
I feel like if you could somehow keep the first gag with the two or three sparks, but somehow cut the second scene to where you don’t see the multiple mandibles, we just see the arm retracting and then him smashing his head into the motherboard to temporarily reestablish the connection. Sure, it is a little silly, but don’t you think you gotta keep some of BB-8’s levity? It’s partially what makes him endearing.
I mean in TFA, the few times I saw it in theaters, at almost every screening, when BB-8’s head goes back and forth between Rey and Finn, and then when he gives the little lighter thumbs up, I could literally feel the audience collectively fall in love with that little droid.
Just my opinion, though. My SO isn’t really a Star Wars person, but she loves BB-8, so I guess for me I wouldn’t want to cut out too much of him because I see how other people might like those funnier moments that we find too funny.
If you’ll allow me to go off topic for a second, it kind of reminds me of something I learned early on when I started fan editing. One of the first things I did was a personal edit of Return of the Jedi. After I “finished” it, I showed it to my uncle and my younger cousins. During the Sarlaac battle, we got to the part where Han sends Boba flying, and I had cut Han saying, “Boba Fett? Boba Fett?? Where?!”
They immediately noticed that cut, because that line became sort of a inside joke for them. Anytime one of them would mention Boba in conversation, one of them would quickly respond with “Boba Fett? Boba Fett? Where?!” and just laugh and laugh.
It was at that point that I realized that even if you make what you think are sensible cuts, you also might be losing something from the film that is a little harder to explain. Maybe it’s charm. Or maybe it what Lawrence Kasdan once said in an interview about Star Wars: that it’s goofy, but goofy in the best way.
EDIT: Regarding Holdo stuff, I did make a [post] the other day with some ideas on that whole subplot. Maybe that could sparks some thoughts on it.