"Oasis was like a Ferrari... great to look at, great to drive but it'll f**kin' spin out of control every now and again"

“Supersonic” could possibly be one of the most entertaining music documentaries in recent years. Director Mat Whitecross manages to take family disputes, drunken brawls and arrogance and spin it into a story so entertaining to watch that you forget how horrible the Gallagher brothers can really be. This is due in large part to the move on Whitecross’s behalf of focusing solely on the bands quick and meteoric rise to fame, rather than building it up to then let the audience see how it all evaporated (as is the case with most music documentaries).

The younger years were the most influential for the band and they’re the ones we as an audience are most interested in seeing and here Whitecross, similar to his previous documentary “Amy”, weaves this tale using a plethora of archival home video footage and photographs to paint a well rounded and intimate portray of the Gallagher family and how their two youngest came to front one of the biggest bands of the 90s.

The key to enjoying “Supersonic” is similar to enjoying Oasis as a band, you just have to shake your head and laugh at the antics of the brothers. Their conflicts and conduct end up becoming so ridiculous and overblown that you simply have to sit back and marvel (performing their first ever show in America while high on meth or Liam bringing an entire pub back to the recording studio are two highlights that comes to mind). “Supersonic” is best described like watching a car accident, it’s painful, it’s destructive and you feel horrible for the people involved yet somehow you just can’t look away.

While all the siblings raucous behaviour may keep you engaged on surface level the film also cleverly manages to intertwine heart in amongst the chaos. As their star rises you begin to see the strain that takes on a creative mind and how the arrogance and hubris could easily be a façade in place to shelter the individual from the pressures of fame growing around them. This is particularly evident when the film takes time to focus on the other members of the band, their friends and family, shifting away from the hooligan veneer the band became so recognised for.

While not providing any substantially new information or constructing a ground breaking narrative “Supersonic” is still an incredibly fun film, especially for music lover, giving the audience a peek behind the curtain at the type of madness that sometimes goes hand in hand with being a self-proclaimed genius.

7 out of 10.

Reviewed by Chris Swan.