Eva Mendes as Sand Saref in ‘The Spirit’

Excuse my absence, but I’ve been away on vacation for a while. The good news is that I’m back, and I’ve got a little treat for you.

Frank Miller‘s The Spirit doesn’t arrive in theatres until December 25, but we’ve already got an image from the film featuring Eva Mendes as Sand Saref.

Check it out after the jump, and for anyone who hasn’t heard of The Spirit, the official synopsis also follows below…

It is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) has a different mission: he’s going to wipe out Spirit’s beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit tracks this cold-hearted killer from Central City’s rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront… all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader. Surrounding him at every turn are Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), the whip-smart girl-next-door; Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), a punk secretary and frigid vixen; Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega), a murderous French nightclub dancer; Lorelei (Jaime King), a phantom siren; and Morgenstern (Stana Katic), a sexy young cop.

Then of course, there’s Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), the jewel thief with dangerous curves. She’s the love of his life turned bad. Will he save her or will she kill him? In the vein of Batman Begins and Sin City, The Spirit takes us on a sinister, gut-wrenching ride with a hero who is born, murdered and born again.

UPDATE: I totally missed my chance to post another stunning shot of Eva, and two film stills that were released a while back as part of the San Diego Comic Con, so without further ado, here you go: