Although it doesn’t match the “hoorah!” gangbusters craziness of the first film, Pacific Rim: Uprising features enough in the way of charismatic performances and larger than life action filmmaking to make for an entertaining watch of the popcorn munching variety.

Five years is a long time for a sequel, yet that is exactly how long it took Pacific Rim: Uprising to follow up the wildly good Pacific Rim, the Guillermo Del Toro directed giant robot/giant monster mash that raked in $400 million in the global box-office and solidified the Mexican filmmaker’s standing as a giant in the industry.

A lot of things were up against Pacific Rim: Uprising to, well, rise above the competition: No Del Toro at the helm; the long layoff between movies; and a market oversaturated with similar material. Yet as directed by Steven S. DeKnight (his feature film debut) Pacific Rim: Uprising works by delivering on its promise of big things going “boom!” in entertaining fashion. Combined with charismatic turns from rising stars John Boyega and Scott Eastwood, and Pacific Rim: Uprising is perfect fodder for lovers of bigger is better popcorn munching cinema.

Set several years after the events of the first film, Pacific Rim: Uprising stars Boyega as Jake Pentecost, the son of Kaiju war hero Stacker Pentecost (played by Idris Elba in the first movie). A cocky burn-out overcome with the weight of his father’s legacy, Jake re-joins the Pan Pacific Defence Corps when a new Kaiju threat reveals itself. Together with estranged former co-pilot Nate (Scott Eastwood) and young recruit Amara (Cailee Spoeny), Jake must take down a bigger and more sinister threat to mankind and reclaim his legacy.

That legacy, of course, involved boarding a large mechanical construct known as a “Jaeger”, that’s packed with all sorts of weaponry in order to battle those pesky Kaiju (gigantic monsters from another dimension) in battles to the end. Before you can say “more than meets the eye”, it is worth noting that the giant robot action found here towers over Michael Bay’s grind squealing, visually dizzying attempts to do the same in the Transformers franchise. DeKnight stages and shoots his action scenes with a welcome crispiness, the fight choreography both exciting and coherent. Considering the films plot is neither, this is a big bonus.

Same can be said of the films cast. Scott Eastwood continues to improve with every movie, young Cailee Spaiey brings the necessary spunk, and the two-man show of Charlie Day and Burn Gorman is a hoot. It’s John Boyega, however, who towers above all. The young man is simply a star, with the acting chops to back it up. With Boyega as its lead man, the Pacific Rim franchise will continue to entertain for some time.