Roxy Hunter and the Secret of the Shaman Movie

In The Secret of the Shaman, Nickelodeon's plucky Roxy Hunter (Aria Wallace) makes like a contemporary Nancy Drew in order to solve a crime. In this follow-up to The Mystery of the Moody Ghost (also available on DVD), the nine-year-old finds out that some historical items in the town of Serenity Falls (the Roxy movies are filmed in Toronto) have gone missing, while a strange man named The Shaman (Richard McMillan) has been hanging out in the spooky woods outside her house. Without telling her widowed mother Susan (Robin Brûlé), Roxy tries to get to the bottom of things—initially alone, but after her brainy friend Max (Demetrius Joyette) becomes convinced that the strange yet harmless Shaman doesn't have the makings of a thief, he teams up with Roxy to prove the man's innocence and root out the real culprit. For newcomers, Roxy's precociousness may prove off-putting at first—especially when she utters improbable lines like, “The wheels of democracy turn slowly”—and she fibs to a few authority figures. Over time, however, Roxy's curiosity and resourcefulness help compensate for her less attractive qualities. A solid family film, this is recommended. [Note: DVD extras include the “making-of” featurette “Creating the Secret of the Shaman,” an “On the Set with Aria Wallace” featurette, a blooper reel, two music videos (“Follow Me” and “The Secret”), “Hidden Treasures” (audition tapes and deleted scenes accessible by clicking on animated magnifying glasses), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a mostly winning YA film.] (K. Fennessy)