REMEMBER, remember something or other.

By the end of this film, I was left trying to remember exactly what had happened and to what end.

The people behind The Matrix trilogy (so I can't say I wasn't warned) have conjured up some strange kind of hybrid of Phantom of the Opera and The Gunpowder Plot thanks to a DC Comic.

Their intention is to throw into doubt your perspective on the term terrorist'.

That old sage one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist' is explored to its fullest extent here.

Its catch-line is: People shouldn't be afraid of their Government, Governments should be afraid of their people' and, given the post-9/11 climate, it's very timely.

We're sent to a time in the future where Britain is being run by a tyrannical, God-fearing new force aimed at keeping the foreigners out, the homosexuals in the closet and all potential causes for freethinking (such as art, music, literature) under strict control.

There are curfews at night, so no one can go out on the robor have fun, things like that.

But when young Evie (Natalie Portman) steps out after curfew, only to be confronted by some lurid henchmen working on behalf of the Government, she has the mysterious (cos he's always in a mask), eloquent (cos he speaks posh) and intellectual (cos he can speak alliteratively) V to thank for rescuing her from an apparent rape.

A hero, you might say.

But he then takes her for a midnight stroll, at the end of which he blows up the Old Bailey. Not bad for a how-do-you-do...

As a result, V (Hugo Weaving) is a terrorist in the eyes of the Government and the media - someone who destroys our heritage and cares not for the loss of life.

But what we are witnessing is the start of a revolutiona fight for freedom from the tyranny we have slowly been spoon fed into accepting.

And that's the crux of the film, although the slant is very much one-sided. The Government is very much the baddy and V is very much our Che Guevara.

The real story though, is who V is, what he is, how he got his name and why he is intent on blowing up Parliament.

It's actually a political thriller - a whodunit.

And that is the reason you should check out this film. Try to get past the convoluted nonsense. Focus on V the assassin with a debt to settle.

I suppose Evie plays the part designed to show how easily you can be pulled into such fights. She was in the wrong place at the wrong timeor the right one at the right time, depending on your view, and before you can say gunpowder, treason and plot, she's a shaven-headed rebel.

But she is also the love interest and the eye-candy.

In the end, this is a rather messy essay on revolution and its catalysts. For a serious film, some scenes left me in stitchesnot a good sign.

For all the talk of Bonfire Night, this ends up a damp squib.