The first one was fair to average. Nothing special really from what I remember. It didn't feel quite right. I thought Catching Fire was actually really good. This movie had a bit more going for it as they were able to get more into the revolution and what is happening outside of the arena. I haven't read the books so that is what is the most intriguing to me.
I think Catching Fire also made a good decision with the ending. I think it is liable to upset typical movie goer types as, to me, it felt abrupt. The movie itself did start to feel long, but that was only because I couldn't figure out how they could close this one up nicely.
The first one was really about some girl that had to fight some other kids and that didn't seem like enough to carry the movie.