This text is brillant and explains many things I’ve been takling about here: http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/06/28/star-wars-the-force-alluded-to
Thanks for sharing the link, a pretty long read 😄 . Here are my thoughts about it:
-I don’t think “Hulk” should’ve tried to find special meanings behind Abram’s directing: I may be wrong, but it looks to me that he mostly follows a pattern, always making sure each scene has funny lines, drama, action and references to previous movies, which is probably why sometimes his characters’ actions feel forced or not really impactful;
-I agree some scenes felt too short, like Poe’s “death”, they could’ve used a bit more build up and drama;
-actually I like the way the lighting is staged during Han’s death scene, but I agree the scene needed more build up to work at its best;
-yes, we could’ve definitely used more background informations about what’s going on in the Galaxy and the Republic;
-absolutely, I agree the movie itself relied too much on nostalgia.