It's hard to think of another example, stronger than this - of a cast & crew of a production making it so blatantly obvious what they're solely here for; Disney+ is cynically (& unimaginatively) capitalising off of the "Willow" brand, the creators seemingly know it & everyone involved in the adaptation of these derivative scripts is additionally here (or brought back from the original) in order to blatantly cash the cheques they'll be earning, in exchange for their attendance during this shoot. Nobody seems to have any desire to be there (besides getting paid), nor is anyone noticeably incentivised to tell an engaging story that would narratively justify a televised sequel on this corporate streaming service; there's no sense of enthusiasm or energy, no passion, no creativity in front of & behind the camera; this is purely WORK & my goodness, they've made it feel laborious to sit through.
Due to the cold, transactional nature of the show's creation, actors give the bare minimum (hardly making any effort to sell the awful lines of dialogue they're saddled with), the directing is flat & lifeless, the cinematography's unimaginative, the jokes are mistimed & often don't land & I get the impression everyone was simply there to make it to the end of another shift. Hence, it's a culmination of uninspired departments, churning out content for the sake of it, not really believing in the product they're helping to create.
There's no heart or soul put in to this. They were tasked with making another bland fantasy series in a sea of other fantasy genre pieces (which already dominate opposing viewing platforms)... And this one undoubtedly isn't able to compete. It ineffably sinks - & most certainly doesn't swim. What a wasted opportunity.