Today’s quick review: Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Fatally wounded by Overgirl (Melissa Benoist), the Ray (Russell Tovey) escapes from Nazi-controlled Earth-X to Earth-1. Before dying, he bestows his powers on Ray Terrill, his alternate universe self, and entrusts him with intelligence that must be kept out of Nazi hands. Now Ray must become the superhero he was always meant to be to protect the Freedom Fighters of Earth-X from Overgirl.
Freedom Fighters: The Ray is an animated superhero movie with ties to the Arrow and Flash television shows. The movie follows Ray Terrill, a public servant with a strong sense of justice, as he learns to use his superpowers, overcomes challenges in his personal life, and finishes the work left by his alternate self. Promising plot elements are undermined by weak character work and a story that focuses too much on the wrong things.
Freedom Fighters: The Ray’s main problem is Ray. Ray makes for a mediocre hero. His powers are flashy enough, and he immediately takes to fighting crime, but he lacks the best qualities of a superhero. His efforts as the Ray are halfhearted, he regrets but rarely learns from his mistakes, and his personal arc has more to do with coming out to his parents than anything involving his superhero alter ego.
As a result of this character imbalance, the rest of the movie suffers. The early portion of the story leans too heavily on generic superhero ideas in an attempt to establish Ray’s credentials. His character arc is static, spending most of the movie in the same holding pattern. Worst of all, the movie all but ignores the Earth-X plot until the finale, sidelining what is easily the most unique aspect of the story.
Freedom Fighters: The Ray still has a few redeeming qualities, including superhero action and a new way to drop its protagonist into the chaos. But the movie does a poor job of handling its conflicts, both personal and heroic, and that keeps it from living up to its potential. Approach with caution.
For a more robust superhero origin story set in the same continuity, try Vixen. For another animated superhero movie about a totalitarian version of the Justice League, try Superman: Red Son, Injustice, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, or Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
[6.1 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9293522/). I give it a 6.0 for a superhero origin story that fails to capitalize on its strengths.