Designed to appeal to teenagers, “Pacific Rim: Uprising” is the sequel to the 2013 hit directed by Guillermo del Toro. The story takes place 10 years after the events of the first film. John Boyega plays Jake, the son of the first film’s hero, played by Idris Elba. Having left behind his military service to pursue a more lucrative* career scavenging* Jaegar (robot avatars) parts, Jake is summoned back into action by his sister Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi).

Rejoining the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, or PPDC, Jake is soon fighting alongside Lambert (Scott Eastwood), his friend and rival pilot; Jules (Adria Arjona), whose romantic affections both men vie for*; and Amara (Cailee Spaeny), a teenage hacker* who’s built her own Jaeger from parts left over from the last battle.

A major plot involves a Chinese company developing a new breed of unmanned Jaegar corps — a business plan that doesn’t sit well with the pilots. The cadets* are soon forced into combat with both the rogue Jaegars and the newly returned Kaiju (giant lizards).

Among the characters returning for this installment are scientists Dr. Hermann Gottlieb and Dr. Newt Geiszler, played by Burn Gorman and Charlie Day, respectively, as a pair of vaudevillians*.

This sequel, directed by Steven S. DeKnight, becomes increasingly tiresome in its cliched plotting and characterizations and repetitive, visually incoherent action sequences.

It’s disappointing to see Boyega, so impressive in “Detroit,” not taking advantage of his star power to look for more challenging material. Eastwood, the spitting image* of his father Clint Eastwood, fulfills the physical demands of his heroic role effectively. But the film’s best performance comes from Spaeny, making her feature debut.

The screenplay, written by DeKnight and three others, does feature one winking, self-knowing line. It’s delivered by Day, who it’s easy to believe might have improvised* it if a behemoth* production like this one allowed for such things. “We’re going with giant robots again?” his scientist character asks. “Real original! I am not impressed!”

The movie is gracious enough to review itself. (SD-Agencies)