At the Tempe premiere, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” director Gavin Hood said a few words before the film started, expressing disappointment over an incomplete version being leaked before its release.

What’s even more disappointing is how terrible the completed version is.

“Wolverine” begins with a young, sickly child named James and his half-brother Victor in a mid-1800s Victorian home. A family tragedy and James’ mutation (bone claws) lead to an escape by the brothers.

They don’t avoid violence for long; as adults, James (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) fight from the Civil War to the Vietnam War, never aging or dying because of their mutant healing abilities.

Eventually, the two are noticed and join Col. Stryker’s (Danny Huston) super-powered task force. James soon decides he’s had enough, leaving the team and his brother for a peaceful Canadian life with teacher Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins).

But a quiet life would make a boring movie, so violent events thrust James into a military experiment that dubs him “Wolverine.”

“Wolverine” is undoubtedly the most disappointing film of the franchise. After the atrocity that was “X-Men: The Last Stand,” it seemed that anything else that could come after it would be better.

Because it’s a prequel, the plot has more holes than Swiss cheese.

It’s unclear how any of the story ties into the continuity of the previous series.

A young Scott Summers, later known as Cyclops, is tracked down and attacked by Victor, known as Sabretooth in the first film. But why does Magneto, a mutants-first activist, have someone who hunted down mutants on his team?

This movie is not based on the comic, which is fine. Recently, original stories such as “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” have made for much better movies.

That works because the characters in those movies were still recognizable. Besides Wolverine, every character in this movie is poorly written or portrayed.

The highly anticipated debut of Gambit is disappointing. He’s played by Taylor Kitsch, who also plays a high-school fullback on “Friday Night Lights.” Kitsch looks too young to play someone who has spent two years in captivity and learned to pilot a plane.

The insane, motor-mouthed Deadpool also makes the transition from comics to cinema.

As Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds reads his few lines perfectly. But for most of the film, his most appealing attribute is ripped away. Regular viewers may or may not notice, but comic fans will be heartbroken.

Wolverine’s former teammates John Wraith (a terrible Will.i.Am) and Fred Dukes are supposed to garner sympathy, guilt-ridden from their time with Stryker.

But because they’re shown for only a few minutes, why bother with sympathy at all?

That’s not to say nobody will like it. Comic book fan Aaron Decker said he enjoyed the film and that it exceeded his expectations with impressive action and special effects.

He even liked Deadpool in this film, being a fan of the alternate “Ultimate” version of the comics.

The special effects are impressive, but a good script would have been better.

An extra pitchfork is awarded to the film for having multiple after-credit endings.

Reach the reporter at cogino@asu.edu.