Like the horridly misguided Beauty and the Beast follow - ups, this is a «midquel» that takes
place somewhere
during the
course of the original
film, which just points up how thoroughly unnecessary its very existence is.
More, it confirms that Bruce Willis was outmatched by the demands
of the material; that Tom Hanks was disengaged; that Melanie Griffith was badly miscast; and that Morgan Freeman was inserted as a sop to an African - American community that not only would have to endure multiple comic - effect uses
of the word «nigger»
during the
course of the
film, but would likely never go see it in the first
place.