Enter retro fetish heaven, and let “The Spirit” move you.

What type of retro fetish? Every. Fashion, architecture, radio and movie serials, heroes, villains and dames.

Central City has a mysterious guardian angel (Gabriel Macht). He is virtually immortal, and he has a jones for fighting crime. Every woman wants him, but his only true love is the city–and he is her spirit.

When a super villain named The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) starts raising a ruckus, The Spirit rises to the challenge of taking him on. The only trouble is that The Octopus also is virtually immortal.

Their pasts are inextricably linked, but as in “The Highlander,” there can be only one. Special cargo brought over by jewel thief extraordinaire Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) makes immortality a very real possibility for The Octopus. But she has demands of her own, and wouldn’t you know it, she was The Spirit’s first girlfriend. Oh the tangled webs woven by good and bad alike.

“The Spirit” is an artistic storytelling tour de force. Director/screenwriter Frank Miller (the man also behind “Sin City” and “300“) magnificently maintains his graphic novel branding with this movie based on the 1940s’ comics of the same name by Will Eisner.

Similar to “Sin City,” “The Spirit” is stark, gritty and quasi black & white with lots of edgy animation and splashes of color.

In addition to good action and mystery, there is a lot of humor. Dark and witty, the whole film is loaded with jokes. Just don’t go in thinking Jim Carrey; think more along the lines of “Pulp Fiction.” Best of all, the movie isn’t afraid to make fun of itself. The Octopus’ half-witted henchmen–all slight variations of one of his “experiements”–are a perfect example. They are a mockery of lame, selfless evil henchmen of bygone eras, but they also are a meta joke making light of their own picture.

Jackson plays a demented villain very well with a delicious degree of camp. Macht is almost as good as the good guy. Mendes is good, too. Only Scarlett Johansson can’t act her way out of a wet paper bag–as usual–but that is immaterial. She accomplishes what she was hired for as Jackson’s lead henchwoman.

The script is rife with pop culture references dating back to ancient Greece. You might want to bone up on your “Jason and the Argonauts.”

The predominately retro ’30s look of the film also blends in well with the modern era. Fedora’s might be the proper topper, but don’t be shocked by cell phones and Blackhawk Helicopters.

I seem to recall critics generally panning “The Spirit” and audiences avoiding it. I just don’t know why. I want a sequel.