The Workout review (2025)
The Workout is a standard revenge flick shot in an atypical POV format.
What might have sounded good in theory quickly proves unsustainable in execution as The Workout is all gimmick with little substance.
Wyatt (Peter Jae) has been making fitness videos with his pregnant wife, Becca (Galadriel Stineman, Until Dawn) and brother-in-law Levi (Josh Kelly). All three are wearing body cams for reasons that only make sense to tie into the movie’s premise.
The Workout doesn’t waste much time establishing this dynamic when three goons walk in threatening Levi.
As a former Army Ranger, Wyatt can’t sit back and tries to disarm the thug whose gun naturally fires and hits Becca. Wyatt gets knocked out and falls into a coma while Levi launches a fundraiser to keep Wyatt’s gym alive — and help pay for the expenses for his baby who was successfully delivered via an emergency C-section.
Director/co-writer James Cullen Bressack and co-writer David Josh Lawrence further add to the drama by having Wyatt get diagnosed with a terminal brain condition that will rob him of his memories before eventually taking his life.
Like any self-respecting would-be vigilante, Wyatt wants Levi to document his payback efforts so he can show his daughter — who he names after her mother — how he fought back against injustice. This feels more like grounds to send his baby girl through decades of therapy…
Is it too late for Wyatt to just record a few weeks worth of workout routines? That seems like it would be more lasting for her.
It’s not like Wyatt and Levi beating up or even killing a few thugs is going to have some lasting impact on young Becca when she’s in her 30s.
Wyatt also doesn’t want some AI messing around with his narrative, so he goes to his tech guy Glitch (Bressack in an intentionally pixelated cameo) for editing software to get his full story out.
Additionally, Glitch creates a program that allows every camera in their vicinity to be utilized for Wyatt’s video tribute to Baby Becca.
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Glitch also sets the pair up with a software designed like a video game interface with possible leads/targets on the guys responsible for Becca’s death. This is a fairly significant plot hole with The Workout.
If Glitch can create all this software and fancy programs, why can’t he track three seemingly low-tech goons down in five minutes?
That would screw up The Workout’s intricate plot, but it’s a question the writers might want to have considered.
The Workout POV shots are frustratingly inconsistent. Bressack experiments with different camera angles without keeping the camera operator perspective in mind.
Even with the Glitch multi-camera explanation the angles and perspectives are needlessly confusing raising questions that didn’t need to be asked. Why is there a POV shot while Wyatt is getting an MRI? Metal including a body cam wouldn’t be allowed near the device. When fellow soldier Tank (Ashlee Evans-Smith) joins the revenge mission, she also gets a POV angle despite not wearing a body cam. Lit hallways are shot through a night vision lens.
Consistency is blind spot for Bressack. The whole point of Wyatt’s crusade is so his daughter can see him fight for justice so why does he and Levi storm a bad guy’s house wearing masks? It’s the little things that add up to major problems with this workout.
Another major issue with The Workout is that Jae has a solid baseline presence to make a revenge film work without the gimmicks. Maybe he won’t be the next Jason Statham, but Jae could carry this movie through fine if The Workout were done in a standard style. Kelly is also a solid co-star.
Many of the action scenes play out in large warehouse style locations. Blood and makeup applications are sporadic with some looking decent while others need some work.
To help move the film along, Bressack occasionally speeds the film along with some on screen fast forwarding and herky-jerky editing.
By far The Workout’s biggest offense is the fight scenes. They’re done in a rapid-fire editing style clipping to various perspectives to keep the action moving along. Jae and Kelly handle other action scenes just fine so Bressack probably should have just gave the multi-camera gimmick a pause during the fight scenes.
As shown in Hardcore Henry, a POV action film can be done in a fun and creative manner without overstimulating the viewer.
The Workout has all the ingredients needed for a basic, run of the mill action film that would be fine way to spend 90+ minutes. Its gimmick approach that’s mired with inconsistencies makes it tough to recommend this workout plan.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: V Channels
Check out Bressack’s previous film Murder, Anyone? on DVD now on Amazon.
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