With Iron Man grabbing fistfuls of dollars and rocketing to No. 1 in the US last week, Hollywood's summer-movie onslaught continues with Speed Racer, a big-screen adaptation of the cult-classic Japanese cartoon series.

Much anticipated, this is the first big project directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski since they completed their Matrix Trilogy. From the look of the trailers, their Speed Racer is an imaginative, highly stylised, candy-coloured blend of computer animation and live action. The Mach 5 looks like a Hot Wheels car.

The story follows the gifted driver Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) in his fight with the villains who are attempting to fix all the races.

Heart-throb Korean superstar singer Rain co-stars, making his Hollywood debut as a rival racer. Other supporting players are Christina Ricci as Speed's girlfriend Trixie, John Goodman as Pops Racer, Susan Sarandon as Mom Racer and Matthew Fox as the mysterious Racer X.

Early buzz is positive or negative, depending on how you want to spin the review by the one industry critic who's seen the film, Variety's Todd McCarthy, who dismisses Speed Racer as "pure cotton candy -- entirely non-nutritrious but too sweet and pretty for young people to resist."

Also opening

• What Happens in Vegas -- A couple of strangers (Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher) get married when they meet during a drunken night of gambling in Las Vegas. They want to annul their wedding, but a huge slot-machine jackpot complicates matters -- neither can remember who pulled the lever on the one-armed bandit. Before he'll release the winners, a judge (Dennis Miller) orders the couple to six months of hard marriage. Not many reviews in for this one, but so far it looks like this movie is losing with the critics.
• Deception -- An accountant (Ewan McGregor) looking to spice up his humdrum life is introduced to a secret sex club by a lawyer acquaintance (Hugh Jackman), and is soon the prime suspect in a woman's disappearance and a multi-million-dollar heist. Michelle Williams co-stars. Though the trailers give this the appearance of a smart, sexy and taut thriller, critics are feeling deceived, giving this a 12% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes.