Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness

This movie feels like a nearly two-hour commercial for the CrossFit workout brand. To the degree that Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness qualifies as a documentary, production values are understandably good, since the CrossFit team of producers spent enough money to buy great camera work. Since they were also the producers of the event, those camera people had plenty of access to the athletes and venues. But editing may have been where they stinted on talent. Neither content nor story quality would have suffered from a 30-minute trim. And out-of-sequence cuts to biographical segments on individual athletes seem overlong and misplaced.

There have been reports that CrossFit adherents suffer lots of injuries, and there has been speculation that, as in bodybuilding, performance-enhancing drug use exists. Reebok CrossFit Games have a strict drug-testing policy, but so do professional baseball, bike-racing, and football, and no one believes those sports are clean. As far as narrative goes, an episode of American Ninja Warrior, which this closely resembles, feels far more cohesive.