There was plenty of talk about Wolverine's preemptive launch of summer movie season last week, but let's be honest -- that was merely a tasty little nibble, an appetizer leading up to the main course. And what's on the menu? Why, it's JJ Abrams' hotly anticipated reboot of the creaky Star Trek franchise! So count your pennies while you can, Hugh, because you're about to get smoked.

I should say right off the top that if you're looking for a review of the film here, you're not going to get one -- for a few reasons. First of all, the blog is awash with quality film reviews a-plenty this week from the ongoing Hot Docs festival. Read those and go support one of the hardest working festivals going while you still have the chance, because they deserve it. Second, when it comes to thoughts and opinions on this particular film, the web is not wanting for more of those -- there are already shedloads of them out there. (Google is your friend.)  Plus, admittedly, I haven't actually seen it yet (press screenings being the worst imaginable way to see a film like this in the history of the entire world ever). I'd much rather pony up and pay to see it in public with a room full of people who actually care about what they're watching.

Finally, I'm not reviewing it because I think there's something a whole lot more interesting happening here, something far more worth talking about, ultimately, than even whether the film is any good or not.  And here it is: JJ Abrams has just fired the ultimate shot against all of those out there who rant and rail against the current wave of reboots and remakes.

Think about it. Yes, there have been films remade and rebooted that didn't necessarily need it. And yes, there have been some bad movies made in the mad rush to remake proven titles rather than coming up with new ones. And those movies, predictably, have led to a large and vocal group of people railing against the entire  process and concept of remaking / reimagining / rebooting films in general as a sign of creative bankruptcy.  But here? Here we have a return to a franchise that has gone beyond venerable at this stage and become simply tired and irrelevant, a return that has had people buzzing like mad for months now. When was the last time that people gave a damn about Star Trek? People other than your father, that is. The last few movies have yielded steadily dwindling returns, the last television series tanked horribly and, well, there hasn't even been any point of dwelling on the odd/even, bad movie/good movie theory because it's all been total crap, completely and utterly ignored by the age group that is supposed to be its core audience.

This movie changes all of that. The excitement for the Abrams Star Trek is already at such a fever pitch that financial success is all but guaranteed. More importantly, the wave of interest for this thing -- interest that has swept across generations -- has made it a success at a broader level. Star Trek matters again, perhaps more now than it ever has, with the possible exception of when Wrath of Khan or the peak seasons of The Next Generation were released. No, check that, Khan came as a surprise at the time and TNG never fully broke out of the geek ghetto. So this is the first Trek ever with full-on, across the board, mass appeal, and Abrams has done it without alienating that original audience. Nice trick you've pulled there, JJ -- you may have just validated the whole idea of going back to these old titles and rediscovering what made them interesting in the first place.