The concept of the show is great (and has been proven to be popular throughout the world, most notably Japan and America), a gruelling obstacle course that gets harder and harder as the stages go on, all to beat the infamous mount midoriyama and earn a cool $100,000 (AUD). Sounds simple enough right? Wrong.
Early on in the qualifying stages, it is great to see people from all walks of life have a go at the course, and hear their stories. It's just as entertaining to see how all the "ninjas" go in terms of who goes the furthest, the fastest on the leaderboard and picking early favourites.
Unfortunately, it's downhill from here. After the true competitors are uncovered from the "round robin" and "qualifying" stages, the final course is split into four parts, all of which (to what I'm aware, as I'll explain) are measured via ridiculous and laughable time constraints, making the course virtually impossible to complete.
Whereas in the American version contestants have a chance to forget about the pressure of the clock and show off their determination and general fitness skills, in a "just finish the course" second stage, the Australian version batters the contestants into submission right from the opening round of the "grand" final. The last course we got to see for 2018 (every single one of the 23 finalists couldn't beat it, so we didn't even get a chance to see what the next stage looked like) was a gruelling 8 obstacles long, testing all kinds of physical strength and endurance, and had to be completed in under 2 minutes, 45 seconds. That time works out to about 20/21 seconds AN OBSTACLE. That's before we even factor in things like fatigue. It's impossible.
It just isn't fair on the viewer to follow a favourite contestant all season long, only for them to fail because the course is just too difficult. I understand that the grand final should be the ultimate test, and you want the contestants to be pushed, but the organisers should at least prove (via a test runner perhaps?) that it is doable, especially under the OTT time constraints.
Another improvement would be to stop the never ending carousel of obstacles the ninjas have to study, at least keep the course and stages somewhat consistent from season to season so they have some kind of "do this to win" blueprint to go away and work on. Apart from a few fan favourite staples (quadruple steps, jumping spider, the warped wall, mount midoriyama itself) the course is constantly being chopped and changed and added on to, again putting infeasible barriers up to stop would be champions from claiming the elusive prize money.
So all in all, it's dumb fun. A giant obstacle course that anyone from professional athletes to students can have a go at. As a fan of the concept, it's entertaining and I absolutely LOVE the American version (great characters, great hosts, actual winners) but in the end "Australian Ninja Warrior" doesn't compare. The course is laughably infeasible, undermining the whole point of the show (TO CLIMB AND BEAT MOUNT MIDORIYAMA) and therefore, put simply, the show is pointless.
It is meant to be a competition, not an exhibition. I would have given it a one star, but my love for the idea, the early competition stages and amazing people that take the course on saved it. Just.
Will not be watching next year.
