Yes, a tight bend could restrict the movement of the cable & FD. These styles of shifter have a few bends that can cause additional wear and 'drag' on the cable/housing. You can check for that as well as the other items mentioned earlier.

If the chainrings are not fully straight, a change to the 'normal' tension setting from the dealers manual may be needed to allow the most useful combo of gears. Hopefully you can get the highest and lowest gear ratios to run cleanly. The combos with extreme chain angles may not work but are often duplicates anyway.

Don't worry about the rear derailleur hanger alignment. It shouldn't have an effect on the 'upper chain run'. Any issue with it would show-up in rear shifting first.