That's pretty much it - that first book had a good premise, possibly inspired by Battle Royale even though Collins denies she was familiar with that book or movie, but in any case throwing together some elements which were classic on their own, but original enough when combined, with the post-apocalyptic American setting, the reflections on the Big Brother culture and reality TV, and that Roman element. But the world-building, and much more importantly the fleshing out of the dystopian elements and depth of the ideas... well, having them mostly lacking in the first book was justifiable, the focus was after all just on the Hunger Games. But books two and three fail to deliver on that score as well, and try to make up for it by becoming increasingly extreme to the point that it becomes almost laughable near the end of Mockingjay. In terms of the extreme violence and depressing, nihilistic plot elements, Mockingjay is brutal not only by YA standards but even by adult ones. But in terms of depth and insight, it's weak even by YA standards.

True enough, though one shouldn't underestimate the understanding of younger readers. Before this explosion of YA literature in the last few decades, they were reading adult novels instead, and perhaps not fully appreciating them yet, but mostly. I think I was 13 or 14 when I read 1984 - if today's generation of kids that age read the Hunger Games trilogy instead, that's a poor trade.

A good point, and it does to some extent stay that way throughout the series - it's one of the main elements of the plot, really, the way Katniss becomes a heroine and an icon not because she wants to, but because she is forced to - and the way she is manipulated by all sides for their respective goals.

I think the series does aim to be dystopian and to serve social commentary. It just doesn't do a good enough job. To some extent it's an issue of pacing and plot structure - when by the end of the second book in your trilogy, the big actual conflict only just begins, and you haven't even found the time to provide some proper worldbuilding in the first two books, it's kind of unavoidable that the result will be a final book with too much plot and still no proper background to set it in. I still think that the first book/movie worked well on most levels, it's this one that fails to do what a middle book in a trilogy should do - move the plot ahead a good deal while simultaneously broadening the scope and setting.

In that sense, the split of Mockingjay into two movies could actually work out quite well, if they take their time in the first one to do what Collins failed to do in the book. Then again, it could be awful as well.