Look, I’m just going to come out and say it: I hated Shrek. The first one and all its lousy sequels.

Maybe it’s that I was already sick of Mike Myers’ ‘Scottish’ accent long before the first Shrek came out, or that I can’t stand Eddie Murphy, or that the goofy animation style really bugged me, but I never understood the appeal of the series, let alone how anyone thought making a trilogy was a good idea.

Dreamworks’ latest CGI adventure, though, looks worth a punt. It’s based on the first book in a series by Cressida Cowell about a young, awkward Viking youth named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel – Kevin from Tropic Thunder). In it, Hiccup’s attempts to impress his fiery-tempered father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler) result in him inadvertently adopting a young dragon. The dragons are the enemies of the Vikings in this world, leading to a comedic conflict of interest for the young Hiccup.

The film has been shot in 3D for Imax audiences, and also stars Ugly Betty’s America Ferrera and the guys that played Seth and ‘McLovin’ in Superbad. It’ll be out in the second quarter of 2010.