Welcome to Acapulco (2019)

Directed by: Guillermo Ivan | 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. ‘Welcome to Acapulco’ by director Guillermo Iván is not a fun viewing experience if you don’t like a voice-over, because lead actor Michael Kingsbaker updates the audience for about three quarters of the film. But if you do pull this off, you’ll be treated to an entertaining movie. Not necessarily a high flyer, but one that manages to entertain the full runtime of 86 minutes.

The story revolves around a video game developer, Matthew Booth (Kingsbaker), who has to give an important presentation of a new shooter game, Wrath of Todd, in New Mexico. However, at JFK airport he runs 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 characters appear to be very interested in him, because of a ‘package’ that he would carry with him. It starts with two so-called CIA agents, accomplices of hit man Hyde (Michael Madsen in his well-known, jaded stereotypical style), who also hunts for 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’s side and serves as a shield against anyone who shoots at him. With his muse, femme fatale Adriana by his side, nerd Matthew suddenly transforms into a Jason Bourne-esque type.

Whether the clumsy stump reel gets the girl? To ask the question is to answer it, but along the way Iván manages to integrate nice finds into the story. In the beginning, for example, the action is briefly stopped to introduce the more ‘famous’ actors (Baldwin and Madsen). The script also has a ‘character breakdown’, a kind of summary where all the characters are introduced one more time. Also noteworthy and funny: the video game terms during a fistfight. 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 likeable. But all this does not mean that ‘Welcome to Acapulco’ will become a ‘stayer’ within the film industry. It’s not a menu from a star restaurant, rather a fast food take-away meal. A pleasant bite-sized chunk: easily swallowed and soon forgotten…