If it wasn’t a fact before, it sure is now: Morgan Spurlock is the unrivaled master of the hip documentary.

After gaining widespread recognition, a loyal following and an Oscar nomination with the success of his 2004 film, Super Size Me, Spurlock is back, once again leading a playfully satiric investigation of a serious issue. But this time, the 37-year-old filmmaker does something even more dangerous than only eating McDonald’s for 30 days: He asks, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

The motivating factor behind Spurlock’s latest endeavor, as the film’s hilarious opening moments reveal, is the impending birth of his first child. With just 19 weeks before his wife his due, he decides that he needs to track down the infamous terrorist and make the world a safer place for his child, and countless others, to grow up in. Venturing on a far-reaching trip that takes him through Egypt, Morocco, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Spurlock provokes both thoughts and laughs on an adventure that even the movie action heroes who inspired him would be proud of.

The unique stylization Spurlock brought to Super Size Me is back in full force with his latest film, as he constantly uses comical cartoons, graphics, sound effects and music to give his rather grim subject matter a lighter tone. Though an animated bin Laden dancing to M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” might be the most amusing of Spurlock’s gimmicks, a cartoon Statue of Liberty “pimping freedom” to her fellow nations and a video game “Morgan vs. Osama” duel may be just as memorable.

Spurlock also carries his typical charisma and charm throughout the documentary, realizing that it is his job to both thoroughly entertain and inform his audience. While he’s dressed in the local garb, abruptly asking people in a Saudi Arabian mall if they know where bin Laden is (the looks of bewilderment he triggers are classic), one almost forgets that just a few scenes ago, he was exploring an Israeli school that was ravaged by a rocket from the Gaza Strip only eight-and-a-half hours before his arrival.

The key is that Spurlock knows what situations call for what type of cinematic treatment. When he does acquire legitimate sources, he asks legitimate questions. His likable personality helps him sway people into giving very intriguing comments that range from their startling perception of their own governments to their fascinating view on the role of the United States in the Middle East.

But even when visiting some potentially horrific locations, don’t expect the imaginative figure to be overwhelmed by the dangerous issues at hand – whether Spurlock is pulling out a phone book and trying the ingeniously simple strategy of calling bin Laden or hopefully yelling into a cave, “Yoo-hoo! Osama?”, he always seems to find just the right time to relieve the tension.

In almost any documentary, hours upon hours of footage must be sorted through before the final product is assembled. Not only does Spurlock condense his journey into a brisk, 93-minute cut, but he often cleverly edits together the scenes to maximize the comedic effect. This is particularly evident during a sequence at the beginning in which Spurlock splices together film from his military training crash course, puts it to music and ends up with a hysterical montage.

Some are almost certain to approach the documentary with skepticism, likely citing how much of the footage is overly theatrical in nature or claiming that Spurlock is making a mockery of a devastating problem. In the end, though, the second-time director uses the knowledge he gains to send a poignant message, and all of the comic relief is put into its proper perspective. So after seeing four years pass by since Super Size Me was released, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? serves as a refreshing validation that Spurlock does, in fact, have more than just one great feature film idea in him.

tfloyd1@umd.edu

RATING: 4 STARS OUT OF 5