I agree with a lot of your points and I too have a special place in my heart for the previous films.
First point about the Canteena women is true to an extent. I just have no reference point for puppetry work that was believable and with a CGI heavy movie, puppets don't mix well I would think; not just aesthetically but realistically. Carrie Fisher looked like a puppet trying to keep her dentures in.
As far as stormtroopers of the First Order fighting against the "Resistance" army can be explained by ideology. The First Order believes they are the rightful successors to the empire and thus those that aren't under their control or resisting the order they intend to impose of the Galaxy.
The system destroyer, in contrast to the planet destroyer that was the deathstar, is probably the worst plot point of the movie for me right now. The physics of the how it "works" took me out of that storyline. It is almost like an insult to our intelligence.
The New Hope rehash was expected to be honest. Watching the characters early on and seeing that they took the characters of Luke, Han, Leia, to some extent Lando, Yoda, Kenobi, and of course Vader and spun them up into new names and their characteristics and story lines spread amongst them.
Poe who is really Han/Luke, seemed to be missing from the second act and honestly is cast badly. Issac is too good of an actor for this role. I don't want to say Star Wars is beneath him but he seems out of place in the cast in terms of acting ability and is missing from the middle of the movie.
Finn or the Han/Luke/Lando character is said to be by most reviews I've read as the worst character but I enjoyed his backstory but it just suddenly came out of nowhere that this sanitation stormtrooper became a resistance fighter and an integral part of the destruction of the System destroyer.
Rey or Luke/Leia character started her story and came out the otherside completely predictably.
Ren or the Anakin character is where we part a bit. I thought the shots of him surrounded in darkness with a glimmer of light foreshadows his characters journey. The shot before he kills Han and his last scene with Snoke reminded me of Paradise Lost; the fallen angel of light consumed by shadow. However, the parallels to Anakin/Vader are too close and he is an emo rebelling against his parents and family who don't understand him. LOL.
This movie makes me think what would have been with another Lucas film not what will be with episode VIII.