title: Can i create a pre-controller hook in Laravel 5
body: <p>i'm new to laravel, just started building my first laravel application (v.5.2). I come from codeigniter. In CI i used to create a pre-controller hook to check login status and set language before any controller loads. Application-wide stuff. </p>
  
  <p>I can't find anything on pre-controller hooks in the laravel docs. There is something called "middleware" however that might do the job. At what point does this Middleware kick in?
  Am i on the right track? or is there a better way do these jobs in laravel. </p>