Review: Welcome to Acapulco (2019)

Director: Guillermo Iván | 86 minutes | action, comedy | Actors: Michael Kingsbaker, Ana Serradilla, Michael Madsen, Paul Sorvino, William Baldwin, Bradley Gregg, Jeannine Kaspar, Ana Layevska, Guillermo Iván, Jack Duarte, Zach Rose, Osvaldo de León, Micahel Papajohn, Guillermo Garcia, Iván Tamayo

First a warning in advance. “Welcome to Acapulco” by director Guillermo Iván is not a nice viewing experience if you don’t like a voice-over, because lead actor Michael Kingsbaker talks the audience about three quarters of the film. But if you do, you will be treated to an amusing movie. Not necessarily a high flyer, but one that manages to entertain the full duration of 86 minutes.

The story centers on a video game developer, Matthew Booth (Kingsbaker), who has to give a major presentation of a new shooting game, Wrath of Todd, in New Mexico. However, at JFK airport he bumps into “friend / broker” Anthony Woods (Bradley Gregg) and after a few hours of drinking Matthew suddenly finds himself on a plane to Acapulco. So New Mexico becomes Mexico. Immediately after landing, a lot of shady and slightly less shady figures turned out to be very interested in him, because of a “package” that he was supposed to carry with him. That already starts with two so-called CIA agents, accomplices of hitman Hyde (Michael Madsen in his well-known, worn-out stereotypical style), who is also chasing the ‘package’ on behalf of a corrupt American senator (good old Paul Sorvino) … there’s the real CIA, in the form of ‘hot chick’ Adriana (Anna Seradilla), who stands by Matthew and serves as a shield against anyone who takes him at gunpoint. With his muse, femme fatale Adriana by his side, nerd Matthew suddenly transforms into a Jason Bourne-esque type.

Whether the clumsy parade reel gets the girl? Asking the question is answering it, but Iván manages to integrate fun finds into the story along the way. For example, in the beginning, the action is paused to introduce the more “famous” actors (Baldwin and Madsen). The script also has a “character breakdown”, a sort of summary where all characters are introduced one more time. Also noteworthy and funny: the video game terms during a fist fight. In short, there is plenty to enjoy and the pace is right from the start.

Kingsbaker makes fun of his relative obscurity and that makes him likable. But all this does not mean that “Welcome to Acapulco” will become a “keeper” in the film industry. It is not a star restaurant menu, rather a fast food take-away meal. A nice bite-sized chunk: quickly swallowed and soon forgotten …