The supernatural pirate exercise / adventure film, starring Johnny Depp, is drawing health-conscious audiences nationwide.
The supernatural thriller,
Pilates of the Carribbean, manages its chief objective: to combine good entertainment with tips for healthy living and exercise.
Our sequel to the popular franchise begins with the central hero, "Captain Joe" Hubertus (played by Johnny Depp), who is on the run from underworld icon Davey Jones (voice by James Earl Jones) for crimes committed on the high seas as a pirate. When Jones confronts Captain Joe, he makes him promise to reform himself and people everywhere with a special brand of exercise, dubbed "Pilates."
Captain Joe and his band of health-conscious, new age, renegade pirates set out and run amok throughout the Caribbean on his ship, The Reformer. They capture whoever crosses their path: the British, the French, the Spanish — even other pirates. Once captured, the prisoners are shamed, spanked and submitted to the rigorous Pilates exercise regimen that's intended to make them more centered and physically fit beings.
"Buff pirates in spandex g-strings? — How could you go wrong."
— Variety
Some of the techniques used include pirate-friendly terminology like "walk the mat," "dagger pose," "cannonball curl," "powerhouse peg-leg stretch," "spinal wretch," "skull and cross legs" and "the yo ho ho."
The difficulty of the poses goes a long way toward creating dramatic tension that functions like a coiled spring, as everyone is soon trying their damnest to have the rock-hardest, six pack o' rum abdominal muscles that will make them the most fearsome and wholesome fighter ever to sail the ocean blue.
Hats off to the film's cinematography, as it goes a long way toward showing the gritty galley life below deck. In particular, it depicts how the activity of rowing pirate boats merges into the modern-day Pilates techniques utilizing slide platforms.
Johnny Depp does an admiral job of acting a fine line between the rugged and reformed split personalities of Captain Joe.
Pilates of the Caribbean is doing well at the box office, showing itself to be — according to the film's marketing department: "The top-grossing health-conscious swashbuckler film released prior to dawn on a non-holiday Tuesday since the beginning of time."