Morgan Spurlock rides a camel to blend in among Middle Easterners in "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden." (Daniel Marracino / AP)

In his latest Michael Moore-esque stab at documentary filmmaking, director Morgan Spurlock "takes on a franchise even more lethal than McDonald's -- al-Qaeda."

Spurlock wants to make the world safe for his soon-to-be-born child, so, with no military experience or expertise, he sets out to do what the CIA, FBI and U.S. military have so far been unable to do: find the world's most wanted man.

And so he goes from country to country, encountering both the rational and radical face of modern Islam, seeking both those who would welcome him and those who would throw him out on his ear.

He asks thoughtful questions and stupid ones, and -- thankfully -- realizes that in finding Osama bin Laden, part of what he must do is understand where he came from, what shaped him, and how he shapes others.

Spurlock starts in Egypt, where he asks people on the street about America. Encouragingly, if the clips were representative of the public opinion, then the world is enlightened enough to chastise American foreign policy without chastising Americans.

Spurlock's subjects frame things simply, with terrorists on one side, oppressive regimes (America included) on the other side, and innocents caught in the middle.

In Morocco, he meets people who speak of economic oppression, of downturns caused by Washington-backed dictators -- of a powerful nation waging a war and sowing the seeds of terrorism, instead of helping countries grow.

Cut to Israel, where Spurlock spends a day with a state bomb squad, and visits a classroom struck hours earlier by a Palestinian rocket. He meditates on what it would be like to raise a child there, while his wife is 30 weeks pregnant in New York.

In Jordan, he speaks to Christians. In Saudi Arabia, he calls all the bin Ladens in the phone book, and encounters strict adherents to fundamentalist Islam and Jihad. In Afghanistan, he goes to Tora Bora, where bin Laden was last seen, and calls "Yoo-hoo, Osama!" into an empty cave.

His wife is close to due as he heads to Pakistan and gets embedded, does firing practice, shoots a rocket launcher and asks more people if bin Laden is in their country.

"I don't know if he is," says one girl, "but his influence is."

And that, in the end, is all Spurlock finds. Wisely afraid to enter an unsafe part of Pakistan, he leaves, returning home for the birth of his son.

In a way, it's a better travel movie than political documentary. The production values are superior to "Super Size Me," with cartoons and a simulated video game against bin Laden a recurring device throughout.

But the best parts are the ordinary people on the streets, in courtyards, churches, mosques and schools, from the man running his centuries-old tannery in Morocco, to the impoverished tribesmen of Afghanistan, who admit their lives are over and only want better for their sons.

Spurlock admits as much at the end, pointing out that on the road through these dangerous places, looking for bin Laden, he found more people like himself than the man in question. He'll bet on those billions, and live in hope, not fear.