there's a science to walking through windows
Bullet points on Pepper and Tony/Pepper:
- One thing about this movie that I love is how it really shows how competent Pepper is. She's on the cover of a magazine boasting her brilliancy as a CEO, she hears Killian's pitch and tells him NO because she's afraid of the consequences of Extremis [and she was completely right, btw], and even her conversation with Maya about the nature of their work is framed as Pepper being the voice of reason. And it's not that we didn't already know all of this about her, but it is really really good for it to be SHOWN on screen.
- It's interesting that Tony is hiding all the shit he's going through from Pepper. She even asks him if the Mark 42 is the Mark 15. I mean. She knows something has been off since NYC, but in reality she has no idea how fucked up is Tony's head at the beginning of the movie. When she calls the suits "a distraction", and "machines", it feels like she resents them a bit, even. And maybe she does, because Tony is obviously distant, spending all of his time inside his own head down in the garage tinkering with the armor. And he really doesn't want to 'fess up to her, he only does it when she gets pissed enough to call him on his bullshit. But the thing that I love here is that once he tells her what's going on, she GETS it, and promptly sets herself to help in anyway she can.
- So, Tony calling the Mark 42 for Pepper when the house is attacked? Most romantic thing a superhero ever did for his girlfriend y/y? [YES.] And she goes and saves him 5 seconds later, and they even have time for the "I got you"/"I got you first" banter/competition, because this is how healthy loving partnerships between highly dysfunctional people are supposed to go. Who woulda thunk, Tony Stark.
- I also found it neat that the movie took the time to show that Killian thought of Pepper of nothing but a trophy, in contrast to Tony knowing she's the one thing he can't live without. Even after going to pitch Extremis to her, and talking her up with "now that there's another genius in command", or something like that, Killian still doesn't see her as a real person. She's but an object that'll further his evil schemes. And when she falls and they think she's dead, Killian taunts Tony, making it all about him -- "I could have saved her", and "I would have made her perfect". Except Tony knows she is already perfect.
[And let's take a moment and slow clap RDJ for using his eyes to convey emotion better than any other human on the planet.]
- One of my favorite things about movie!Tony is that while he generally hates social interaction, if it comes down to it, he has zero qualms about delegating both as Tony [hence making Pepper CEO of Stark Industries] and as Iron Man [he actively told Cap to call the action once the aliens invaded NYC, because Tony *knows* he sucks at being a soldier, and at giving other people strategic orders]. Which makes Pepper saving the day in the end not that much of a big deal FOR Tony [he's pretty impressed, even], which in turns makes it not a big deal to we-the-audience. I really appreciate that.
- This is the second time Pepper defeats the big bad -- she was the one to off Obie in IM1, but the interesting thing about it this time is that even infected with Extremis, she is still very much Pepper. The movie doesn't spend any time exploring what are the effects of Extremis on the subjects' psyche, but the bad guys we know by name -- Killian, Savin, Brandt -- all turn into complete sociopaths with a flare for theatrics and dramatics and exhibitionism of their superpowers. Pepper, OTOH, has two threats to deal with -- Killian and one of the Iron Man suits -- and she deals with both quick and swiftly, with an incredible economy of moves that takes her absolutely no time at all. Because even infected with Extremis, she is still no-nonsense Pepper Potts, problem solver extraordinaire.
...
I think I'm done now? I haven't watched the movie in a week, but I'm sorta thinking of re-watching it once more this weekend just so I can be sure I'm done.
...
In other news, the new National album leaked today, making it THE BEST DAY.
- One thing about this movie that I love is how it really shows how competent Pepper is. She's on the cover of a magazine boasting her brilliancy as a CEO, she hears Killian's pitch and tells him NO because she's afraid of the consequences of Extremis [and she was completely right, btw], and even her conversation with Maya about the nature of their work is framed as Pepper being the voice of reason. And it's not that we didn't already know all of this about her, but it is really really good for it to be SHOWN on screen.
- It's interesting that Tony is hiding all the shit he's going through from Pepper. She even asks him if the Mark 42 is the Mark 15. I mean. She knows something has been off since NYC, but in reality she has no idea how fucked up is Tony's head at the beginning of the movie. When she calls the suits "a distraction", and "machines", it feels like she resents them a bit, even. And maybe she does, because Tony is obviously distant, spending all of his time inside his own head down in the garage tinkering with the armor. And he really doesn't want to 'fess up to her, he only does it when she gets pissed enough to call him on his bullshit. But the thing that I love here is that once he tells her what's going on, she GETS it, and promptly sets herself to help in anyway she can.
- So, Tony calling the Mark 42 for Pepper when the house is attacked? Most romantic thing a superhero ever did for his girlfriend y/y? [YES.] And she goes and saves him 5 seconds later, and they even have time for the "I got you"/"I got you first" banter/competition, because this is how healthy loving partnerships between highly dysfunctional people are supposed to go. Who woulda thunk, Tony Stark.
- I also found it neat that the movie took the time to show that Killian thought of Pepper of nothing but a trophy, in contrast to Tony knowing she's the one thing he can't live without. Even after going to pitch Extremis to her, and talking her up with "now that there's another genius in command", or something like that, Killian still doesn't see her as a real person. She's but an object that'll further his evil schemes. And when she falls and they think she's dead, Killian taunts Tony, making it all about him -- "I could have saved her", and "I would have made her perfect". Except Tony knows she is already perfect.
[And let's take a moment and slow clap RDJ for using his eyes to convey emotion better than any other human on the planet.]
- One of my favorite things about movie!Tony is that while he generally hates social interaction, if it comes down to it, he has zero qualms about delegating both as Tony [hence making Pepper CEO of Stark Industries] and as Iron Man [he actively told Cap to call the action once the aliens invaded NYC, because Tony *knows* he sucks at being a soldier, and at giving other people strategic orders]. Which makes Pepper saving the day in the end not that much of a big deal FOR Tony [he's pretty impressed, even], which in turns makes it not a big deal to we-the-audience. I really appreciate that.
- This is the second time Pepper defeats the big bad -- she was the one to off Obie in IM1, but the interesting thing about it this time is that even infected with Extremis, she is still very much Pepper. The movie doesn't spend any time exploring what are the effects of Extremis on the subjects' psyche, but the bad guys we know by name -- Killian, Savin, Brandt -- all turn into complete sociopaths with a flare for theatrics and dramatics and exhibitionism of their superpowers. Pepper, OTOH, has two threats to deal with -- Killian and one of the Iron Man suits -- and she deals with both quick and swiftly, with an incredible economy of moves that takes her absolutely no time at all. Because even infected with Extremis, she is still no-nonsense Pepper Potts, problem solver extraordinaire.
...
I think I'm done now? I haven't watched the movie in a week, but I'm sorta thinking of re-watching it once more this weekend just so I can be sure I'm done.
...
In other news, the new National album leaked today, making it THE BEST DAY.