It really is, isn't it? It humanizes the villain (always an important component, I think, in good writing for the genre) and it shows how absolutely brave Kelsey was. She found herself in the middle of a superhero/villain melee and makes a damn good effort at facing down a superpowered man three times her size. It's also this beautiful moment of total connection between two people on opposite sides of a conflict. Think of what would have happened instead if they'd met in a cafe in Paris (and as soon as I finish typing this sentence, I'm going to bet that somewhere there's fanfic of it) - I would eavesdrop with delight on their conversation all night long.
Plus, I'm always a sucker for a character -- be they good or evil or ambiguously in between -- that pauses to consider how senseless it is to waste a life. That's why Doom has had so many great moments over the years; he's massively megalomaniacal, sacrifices minions without a blink, but then he'll turn around and comment to a bound and struggling Namor that he'd do just what Namor would do were their situations reversed, etc., etc.