When producer Satoru Ogura suggested Suzuki make a sequel to his most notorious film, Branded to Kill, the result was this eye-popping action extravaganza, which is less a sequel than a compact retrospective of Suzuki’s style and themes, updated with CGI effects and infused with the metaphysical concerns of the Taisho Trilogy. Assassin Stray Cat battles her way to the top of her guild against characters such as Painless Surgeon and the mysterious number one killer, Hundred Eyes. Pistol Opera proves that, even in his seventies, Suzuki’s creativity was still firing on all cylinders.