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| “ | That little demon took off my damn thumb and trigger finger. (in Romanian) Monstrule! Monstrule! I will kill this little monkey! I swear, I will KILL him! | „ |
| ~ Andrei Strasser vowing revenge on Joe for biting his fingers off. |
Andrei Strasser is the main antagonist of the 1998 Disney film Mighty Joe Young, the remake of the 1949 film of the same name.
He is a ruthless Eastern European poacher who murdered Joe's mother, as well as Dr. Ruth Young, Jill Young's mother. However, in the process, Strasser loses his thumb and trigger finger after Joe bit him at his right hand, so he swore revenge on the gorilla for the damage, thus becoming the archenemy of both Joe and Jill in the process.
He was portrayed by Rade Šerbedžija, who also played Dmitri Gredenko in 24, Murad Hoxha in Taken 2, Mikhaylo Sczerbiak in Shooter, Boris the Blade in Snatch, and Captain William Blake in The Fog.
Personality[]
Andrei Strasser can best be described as ruthless, sadistic, remorseless, conniving, merciless and overall cruel in nature with no regard for any life but his own.
Strasser is also shown to be a very manipulative man, as he runs a fake animal reserve, while in actuality selling animal organs off the black market. He also manages to completely manipulate Jill into believing he was on her side and tricked her into believing he'd take good care of Joe back in Africa.
Strasser also has no remorse for attempting to kill people as well - best proven when a missed shot intended for Jill causes a deadly fire to spread throughout the carnival, endangering a child trapped in a Ferris wheel. This causes his henchman Garth to turn against him.
All and all, Strasser's powerful grudge against both Joe and Jill leads to his downfall, as he is so intent on shooting her, that he doesn't notice the giant ape looming behind him until it's too late, and Joe later gives the wicked poacher his well-deserved and literally shocking demise.
Biography[]
One night, Andrei Strasser is ambushing a troop of gorillas. He shoots baby Joe's mother, as well as primatologist Ruth Young, mother of Jill Young. Strasser attempts to put the baby ape in a sack, but Joe bites off Strasser's thumb and trigger finger, and Strasser swears vengeance for his severed hand as he retreats. Before she dies of her wounds, Ruth tells Jill to promise her to take care of Joe, to which Jill agrees.
Twelve years later after the incident, Strasser, who is now running a fake animal preserve in Raja while really selling animal organs on the black market, is seen talking on the phone with one of his men, Pindi; refusing to believe there is a 2,200-pound gorilla until he hears the news about Joe and Jill Young on the Television. Strasser wants to get revenge on Joe for biting his fingers off, with the help of his main henchman, Garth.
Jill initially does not recognize Strasser as the poacher who killed both her mother and Joe's, since Strasser hides his right hand in his coat pocket. Strasser tries to persuade Jill that Joe would be better off in his wildlife refuge back in Africa.
Later, during a gala, Garth, uses a poacher's noisemaker to scare Joe into a frenzy. Joe trashes the gala, recognizes Strasser and tries to attack him. Joe is then tranquilized and placed in a concrete bunker. When Jill learns that Joe may be euthanized, she decides to take Strasser's offer. Strasser uses the truck to get Joe inside with Jill Young's help.
Meanwhile, the refuge director Greg O'Hara has realized that Strasser is a poacher (upon discovering a poacher's noisemaker that the maintenance had found) and goes after both Jill and Joe. On the way to the airport, Jill notices the half-glove covering Strasser's missing fingers and finally realizes who he really is. Just then, Strasser notices Greg pursuing them and pulls out his revolver, but Jill punches him in the chest, then leaps out of the truck and into the street. Joe sees her and rocks the truck over onto its side and escapes. Greg finds Jill, who reveals to him that Strasser killed her mother and plans to kill Joe before they rush off to find him.
Jill and Greg eventually locate Joe at a carnival where he is playfully wreaking havoc. Meanwhile, Strasser arrives at the carnival and attempts to shoot Jill to prevent her from exposing him. But Garth pushes Strasser's gun away from Jill, causing him to fire at a spotlight, which starts a fire and causes the Ferris wheel to break down. Realizing Strasser's true nature as a murderer, Garth quits, but Strasser knocks him out unconscious with his gun before confronting Jill.
Strasser eventually confronts Jill and attempts to shoot her, but Joe sneaks up behind them and overpowers him, roaring in the evil poacher's face before throwing him onto some electrical wires over a transformer. Unable to hold on to the wire due to his missing right-hand fingers (as well as his badly injured left hand), Strasser loses his grip and falls onto the transformer and is electrocuted to death, leaving only his prosthetic half-glove hanging from the wiring. With Strasser's death, Joe's mother and Ruth are both avenged.
Quotes[]
| “ | These people want to be heroes, let them die like heroes. | „ |
| ~ Strasser, shamelessly mocking the concept of heroism after Dr. Ruth Young saved Joe Young from being hunted down by him and Garth. |
| “ | My God! Pindi was right! (Strasser's henchman Garth enters the room.) He's beautiful. The most beautiful animal I ever seen. (Garth: And the most valuable, that's for sure. [Garth sits down, watches as Jill appears on screen.] Isn't that the--) Wait! Be quiet! (Both men's expressions are of recognition as Jill is identified as the daughter of the primatologist they had killed twelve years earlier.) (Garth: Bloody hell! That's him! That's him, that's the little feller who bit your finger off!) (Strasser glances down at his mangled right hand, missing the thumb and index finger.) I'm always amazed how, if you wait long enough, the opportunity for justice finally comes. Garth, book us two tickets to America. We are going to pay a visit to this incredible animal. [Smirking, Strasser puts a half-glove on his right hand.] I think I know how to convince his current owners to part with him. |
„ |
| ~ Strasser, after seeing Joe on the TV and recognizing the ape for biting off his fingers and he decides to go to America to get revenge on the ape. |
| “ | (Jill Young: Cecily-- [She bumps into Strasser, causing her to drop her walkie-talkie.] Oh, sorry!) No, my fault. (Jill picks up her walkie talkie and turns to leave.) Excuse me. (Jill Young: Yes?) It's just--... (Jill Young: What?) You must be Jill Young. (Jill Young: Yes.) And you look just like her. (Jill Young: Who?) Your mother. (Jill stares at Strasser with suspicion in her eyes) (Jill Young: You knew my mother?) Yes. I'm an old friend of your mother's. I knew her when she was, uh, only a little older than you. And you were just a tiny thing. What an incredible woman she was. (Jill Young: Yeah.) I'm sorry. I'm Andrei Strasser. I've come here to talk with your Mr. Baker. Actually, I'm here for Joe. (Jill Young: Joe?) And, in a way, for your mother, too. I believe she would agree with me. A magnificent wild animal like Joe needs more space. Like the Raja Preserve, I run in Botswana. (Jill Young: Raja Preserve?) It's 20,000 acres there where the animals are free to run. Here it's such a shame to see Joe living in a man-made habitat... and being used as an attraction to raise money. But I upset you. (Jill Young: No.) Please. I only mean to offer an alternative. Anyway, here's my card. (Hands his card to Jill.) I'll be attending, uh, the event tonight. Maybe we can talk more about this matter then. (Jill Young: I look forward to it.) (Jill holds out her right hand to shake Strasser's hand. Strasser shakes it with his left hand to throw off her suspicions) Yeah. Bye. (Strasser turns and heads for the door with a sinister smirk forming on his face.) |
„ |
| ~ Andrei Strasser tricking Jill Young (who fails to recognize him as the poacher who murdered both her mom and Joe's since Strasser hid his severed hand in his coat pocket) into believing that he'll take good care of Joe back in Africa. |
| “ | (Jill looks at Strasser's half-glove, and he noticed it.) What? It's not so pretty, I know. (Jill: I'm sorry. How did it happen?) Well...you could say that I had an encounter with a monster. (In Romanian) Monstrule. (Strasser chuckles with Garth) |
„ |
| ~ Strasser, telling Jill about how his right hand lost its index finger and thumb out of her curiosity and suspicion, while also indirectly revealing to her that he's the killer of her and Joe's mothers when she heard the Romanian word he uttered. |
| “ | (Strasser and Garth sit in the car as Strasser points his gun out the window.) There she is. (Garth: Just what exactly are you aiming at? [Garth sees Jill running nearby and Strasser's gun aimed right at her!] No! You can't do that!) If that girl starts telling people who we really are, our whole cover operation will be blown. (Garth: She's not an animal. She's a human being!) (Jill Young: Joe!) (Greg O'Hara: Let's go this way!) (Strasser takes aim, but Garth shoves the gun away from Jill, causing Strasser to shoot at a spotlight right behind Jill and Greg, destroying it in a shatter of sparks as they dive for cover.) That was very stupid, Garth. (Jill Young: What was that?) (Greg O'Hara: I dunno! C'mon!) (A fire begins to spread throughout the carnival.) (Man: Fire!) (Greg O'Hara: Go on, find Joe!) (Jill Young: Joe!) (Garth: You're not a hunter! You're a murderer! And I don't want any part of this!) (Strasser bashes Garth on the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking him out.) Anything else on your mind? |
„ |
| ~ Strasser aims his gun at Jill, but Garth pushes it away, causing him to fire at a spotlight instead, which causes a deadly fire to spread through the carnival. Seeing Strasser's true nature as a remorseless murderer, Garth tells him he quits, but Strasser knocks him out with his gun. |
| “ | Goodbye, Jill. Meet your mother...in Hell. | „ |
| ~ Strasser's last words before he finally meets his end by the hands of Joe. |
Trivia[]
- Strasser is a dark parallel to Joe Young, as both characters are (ironically) part of the primate species who are known for using savage methods for each of their personal reasons (Joe's are for his loved ones and his self-defense; Strasser's are for his black marketing and vengeance against Joe). However, while Joe easily gets aggressive occasionally, he is nevertheless a genuinely friendly gorilla at heart who was just misunderstood by others besides Jill at first. Strasser, on the other hand, is truly a monstrous human being who only uses charisma as a way to try to conceal his true colors in front of the general public. If Joe had ever let his intense anger get the best of him for a long period of time, then he'd potentially end up like Strasser.
- Strasser also acts as a foil to Jill Young, as both humans have their fair share of their personal losses from the past that significantly affected both of them (Jill, for losing her mother Dr. Ruth Young from the poaching massacre earlier in the movie; Strasser, for losing his biological right thumb and index finger after Joe bit them off out of self-defense). However, Jill's past tragedy didn't lead her into a darker path as she grew up, partially because she kept her mother Dr. Ruth's promise of taking care of Joe, thus maintaining both of the daughter's mental and moral stabilities, as opposed to Strasser, whose grudge against Joe for the right-hand injury had made the poacher himself even more corrupt than he already was before with his poaching business. Strasser serves as an example of what Jill could've been if she wasn't able to handle her agonizing past in a much better way.
External Links[]
- Andrei Strasser on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Andrei Strasser on the Disney Wiki
