It's the third movie in the series. That's vastly different from the third in a trilogy. A series means each movie after the original was created independent of the original. A trilogy means all the movies are linked together very carefully. Thirds in trilogies are generally good, thirds in series are generally bad. That said, I was vastly surprised at how solidly good this was. It certainly doesn't surpass the other two, but it at least equals the second one as far as good solid action flicks go. Thumbs up!