I actually think it is brilliant. Unlike the original hunger games that had completely developed characters from the get-go, this one explores someone on the boundary between light and dark, and whose ambition turns ruthless. Th female character is flat until the very end. It is she that ultimately "destroys" him in the end, by seeing the dark and him realizing that is what he really is, and him realizing she sees it and fled. Psychologically much more interesting but a lot will go over the heads of younger audiences.