Batman Begins: The Father of Modern Origins

In 1938, Bob Kane created a masked superhero with the premise of one who scared criminals just as much as criminals scared us. A recurring element in all interpretations of Batman include a young Bruce Wayne watching his parents get killed in a dark alley outside some sort of theater. This inspires him to become the Batman. Now, in almost all versions of Batman media, we get a glimpse of his origin as a child witnessing his parents' death and then we flash forward about 15 years and see him in a black costume with a caped and a nice set of wheels but we never saw the in between stuff. Where did he get the suit? Where did he get the car? How did he learn to kick so much ass? These are questions that went unanswered until finally Christopher Nolan gave us Batman Begins.

Most origin stories just show how the hero was before he got his superpowers or awesome tech and then we see the tragedy that inspires him to do goo and then BAM! All the sudden, he has a suit and for some reason has become a Black belt over night (*cough* Spider-man). We got the usual crying child staring at his dead parents in an alley way as a string of pearls drop to the ground and the killer gets away. But then, Nolan gave us more. He gave us the reason a badass like Batman never kills his enemies, as Rachel Dawes explains "Vengeance and Justice are never the same". We also get a little deeper into Bruce's deep hatred of guns as he angrily throws his gun, which he intended to use on Joe Chill, into the Gotham pier. Then, he goes underground. (Motive)

Bruce takes time off to learn about the criminal element and see what drives them and makes them tick. On this journey of understanding, he is recruited by Ra's Al Ghul and is taught the ways of the ninja. He learns how to make his enemies fear him and how to fight them into submission. After completing his training, he returns to Gotham with the intention of scaring the criminals away. He then approaches Lucious Fox, head of Applied Sciences and WHAM! Batman gets his cool gadgetry (ie. Utility belt, Bat Armor, Bat-mobile/Tumbler) and now he has everything he needs to fight crime. (Means)

And finally, Opportunity, Batman puts all he has learn and obtained into practice. He stands up against Carmine Falcone, Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul's plot to destroy Gotham and has finally earned the recognition as the boogey-man of Gotham, the caped crusader, the Dark Knight da da da daaaa! Batman!
The famous and beloved Nolan Origin movie has filled all the criteria of the How-to-make-a-superhero formula. He is motivated by his search for Justice and his need to prevent anyone from being afraid that the bad guys are gonna get him. He is given the means by his knowledge of fighting and the ways of the ninja as well as his access to some of the most high-tech equipment known to man. Finally, he is given the opportunity to fight injustice in the crime-ridden Gotham City. Way to go Nolan, let's hope all other origin movies can learn from your success.