Ludacris says F9's director Justin Lin thinks it's the best movie in the Fast & Furious franchise. Fast & Furious has become one of the biggest franchises in the world over the last decade. It all started with a simple street racing heist movie in 2001 but the popularity and extreme stunts continued to grow over time. The series evolved and found a large fan base under the direction of Justin Lin, who directed four consecutive installments between Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious 6. He's now back involved with the franchise after missing the last two entries.
With any franchise as massive and popular as Fast & Furious, there is always the debate about which movie is best. Although there are different opinions within the fandom, there are three movies that routinely are mentioned as the best. Justin Lin is responsible for two of them, Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast Five. James Wan's Furious 7 is also widely considered to be one of the franchise's best movies, especially for how it handled Brian O'Connor's story following the sudden passing of Paul Walker. But, it appears Lin thinks he's topped the franchise with F9.
During a recent interview with EW, Ludacris revealed that Lin repeatedly told him that he thinks F9 is the franchise's best movie. The director isn't known for saying overly hyperbolic statements like this, which is why it stood out so much to Ludacris when he said it.
Justin doesn't just say stuff like this, but this'll be good when you guys talk to him. Sometimes people will just say cliché things. Not with this movie. I'm saying in general. They'll be like, "Yo, this is my best album," because you're trying to promote that album, and you want it to sell. Justin looked me in my eye twice, and said, "Fast 9 is the best out of the entire franchise."
Since this quote doesn't come directly from Lin, there was no chance for him to elaborate on why this is the case. Ludacris hasn't seen F9 either so he couldn't say whether or not he agrees with Lin. Instead, Ludacris sides with many viewers and believes that Fast Five is the best Fast & Furious movie. As the press tour for F9 continues to heat up, there is a good chance that Lin will be asked about this statement. Of course, it might not be until after the movie is released that he can reveal the details behind why this is his opinion.
Determining what the best Fast & Furious movie is will always be a matter of opinion, so there isn't a right answer. However, the odds of Lin delivering one of the franchise's best installments shouldn't be too much of a surprise. His prior movies do an excellent job at balancing the characters and action to give each a chance to shine. With F9 set to explore more of Dominic Toretto's backstory, introduce his secret brother Jakob, and bring back Han, there's plenty of opportunities for a great story. Meanwhile, the teases of going to space and giant magnets can give the movie unique action set pieces too. The debate about whether or not F9 is the best Fast & Furious movie will really begin once it hits theaters this summer.
Source: EW
