Reportedly, Finn and Rey's bond was decent but paled in comparison to Ridley and Boyega's natural interactions... So when Harrison Ford got hurt, Abrams used the oppurtunity to heavily retool and reshoot their scenes to specifically incorporate that natural chemistry. He also at some post brought Poe back into the film after he was originally killed off in the first few minutes because he saw how good Boyega and Isaac were clicking; that explains both why Poe was awkwardly placed as a supporting character in TFA... And why yet again, cast chemistry is a trump card for TFA that TLJ doesn't even come close to touching. Poe may only continue on in TFA because of the actors charisma and his chemistry with Boyega, but that's a lot better than the out-of-left-field obsession Rian Johnson had with promoting him just so he could try to deconstruct an Ace Pilot archetype that I'd argue Poe didn't fit, even as simple as he was in TFA.
...And I got to say, even if they first told us Poe was a great pilot, Abrams sure as hell showed us that, too. TFA may be a cover band version of ANH, but everything about Abrams filmography says that the cast chemistry and strong ensemble work is the result of his skills and awareness as a director and storyteller. And in comparing TFA and TLJ, there's no question: TFA contains far more showing than TLJ does, and far more competently. Rian Johnson usually brings a strong writing game, but in TLJ his craft suffered from an apathy towards the actual leads and a laziness in narrative convenience that was probably the result of being overworked.
Smith's facial construction could maybe mimic Palpatine Makeup, but doesn't really fit the Palaptine in the Prequels.