9 Uber-Jingoistic Movies That Are Still Legitimately Great

7) Captain America

Captain America, as you’d know from the title alone, isn’t about just any superhero: it’s about the American superhero. Chris Evans’ beefcake Cap represents the nation itself, and does he ever kick ass.

Wearing the colors of the flag at all times, Steve Rogers practically wins WWII by himself. That is, when he can find time off from his day job, of singlehandedly raising the entire defense budget back home at some insanely patriotic charity events (where the Americana is dialled up to 11).

Of course, director Joe Johnston views all this through a deliberately nostalgic lens. As with his earlier WWII-set movie, The Rocketeer, Johnston takes great pleasure in paying tribute to the period and the kind of all-American heroism that was so popular during Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Captain America is jingoistic, and proudly so, but Johnston approaches the material with tongue firmly in cheek. It means he gets to have his cake and eat it, too.