13. Monaco Fight (Iron Man 2)
Iron Man kicked off the MCU in 2008 and struck box office gold, so naturally a sequel soon followed. Director Jon Favreau returned to helm Robert Downey Jr’s second outing as genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark.
Iron Man 2 went on to out-gross its predecessor, despite not being quite as well received. There’s no shortage of set-pieces, but the highlight comes when Stark enters a race in the Monaco Grand Prix.
This attracts the attention of Whiplash, played by Mickey Rourke, who sets out to prove that Iron Man is not invincible.
What follows is a brilliant action sequence as Iron Man tries to save his friends whilst fighting off Whiplash. It’s tense, well filmed, and often funny. The cast are on point, with Favreau’s Happy Hogan providing some welcome moments of comedic relief.
The scene also gives us the greatest Iron Man suit-up we’ve seen in all the films. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts slides Stark a suitcase which opens up and wraps around his body to create the famous armor.
