This is an official, rather botched, explanation of why R2D2 powered up.
I feel like they’re trying to avoid discussion of who Rey might be.
That’s actually an excellent idea.
I’d also consider deleting the Hosnian destruction entirely. It isn’t important for the plot (as far as I can remember) and the fact it can be seen from Takodana as well as the overall poor visuals of the destruction (it was made to look like the planets were all orbiting each other) really damaged my enjoyment of the movie.
I get what you’re saying. While it might be an okay idea for a standalone film, I have a feeling it will never mesh with VIII. Hopefully the Hosnian destruction is dealt with better in that one than it was in this.