He makes competent films, indeed, and they're enjoyable, but they are very much in line with the over-crafted stuff that's coming out lately. Movies today, especially JJ's, have no time to breathe. That means minuscule average shot lengths, and ridiculously tight editing. Not just every shot - every FRAME of film has to have a particular purpose in advancing the plot. Every single item on screen has to be a Chekhov's Gun, and every single one of those guns has to go off by the end of the movie. Every seemingly throwaway line has to be some sort of foreshadowing, and every single one of them has to pay off by the post-credits scene. Everything that is not explicitly a setup for a sequel has to be explained thoroughly. If someone takes longer than 5 seconds to say something, it's because they are Basil Exposition and they have to explain some plot point of the movie to the audience. The thing is, having scenes or elements of the story that are just there to learn more about the characters or the setting is how you develop an expansive universe with a mythos that "feels" like it's real. I feel like Abrams doesn't get that. Everything is wrapped up too neatly, and every character is too polished. Do you think in today's Hollywood that you could make a movie like the original Star Wars, where Leia mentions the "Clone Wars" and Ben talks about the Republic, but these references never get resolved by the end of the trilogy? One issue with the prequel trilogy, of course, is that it mostly serves the purpose of going back and firing all the Chekhov's Guns that were set up by the original trilogy - just kinda lame. One thing Quentin Tarantino said in an interview I saw once was that he creates realism by having characters talking about extraneous bullshit (like the "I don't tip" sequence from Reservoir Dogs) because in real life, people don't spend all their time talking about the plot. Compare earlier Star Trek to JJ Abrams' version - can you imagine JJ Abrams dedicating 10 minutes of screen time to the three main characters sitting around a campfire singing "Row Row Row your Boat?" Of course not. But that's an immensely impactful scene because it shows you a lot about the characters without telling you it directly. If Abrams can manage to relax the reins a little bit, this could be a fine movie. If not, it'll be a design-by-committee all-glitz-no-heart blockbuster like the Star Trek films.
This is a really interesting point, and it's notable that there are much fewer slow-paced movies. I'm thinking of movies like Cool Hand Luke, where there are a bunch of scenes that are only there for characterization. You could take the whole scene out and be no worse off plotwise, but you'd lose out on Luke's motivations, feelings, and traits. This is the case in the original Star Wars trilogy as well. The scene you mention where Obi-Wan mentions the Clone Wars has a lot going on. Han is expressing his disdain for the Force and dismissing it as hokery. Obi-Wan is starting Luke off on the path to become a Jedi. Han sees Luke deflect the lasers and shuts the fuck up, showing that he's impressed but too proud to admit that there's something more going on. What actually happens in that scene? Nothing. You could rip that whole thing out and just have the Millennium Falcon show up at Alderaan. I just watched Big Hero 6 because my girlfriend loves cute Disney movies, and come to think about it, the exact same thing happens. There's a minimum of characterization scenes; pretty much everything leads to the very next plot point. There could have been a lot more, and I'm sure that there was, but it probably all got edited out. Do we need to go full retard and make every movie into Blade Runner? No. But the frenetic pacing does become really frustrating. It works for a thriller movie like The Bourne Supremacy, where it's portraying a frantic chase. Lulls in the action would take away from the pursuit. But not all movies are like that, and there's a lot of missed potential for movies to make the audience care even more about the movie. To retaliate for my girlfriend making me watch Big Hero 6, I made her watch Galaxy Quest. And looking at it this way, there are a bunch of scenes where they're literally just interacting with each other for no reason other than to get to know one another. Signing autographs, bullshitting with each other in the control room, etc. You find out that the Captain is a narcissistic prick. You find out that Alien Snape has a massive inferiority complex. You find out that the chick whose clothes keep getting ripped off is trying to be a legitimate actress but is treated like a Hooters waitress by everyone else - all show, no substance. This stuff is important, and the movie would have been a Star Trek version of Epic / Date / Scary Movie 6 without it.
That link was busted or I screwed something up. Here's the replacement: " . . . and trade negotiations."
Some of the character have been revealed http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/12/11/star-wars-the-force-awakens-character-names/