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Kendo kata are there to help kendoka appreciate what it is like to use a real sword. The problem is that a lot of kendoka, who have influences on teaching these kata, do not use a sword. Therefore the kata become 'kendoised'.
If you look at the height of a traditional swordsman, due to the length of his stance and his posture, you will see a marked difference. (the prewar kata are still 'high' compared to koryu, but lower than today)
Current kendo footwork is designed to move quickly on a polished flat surface, do that outside and see how long you stand up for...or how long it is before you stub your toes...
Something else missing is that swords and shinai are different shapes, so technique is also altered as mentioned above by Ignatz. Also as kendo has been cleaned up, ie you dont win by ripping of your opponents helmet, cant strangle him with his do, knee him in the groin and butt strike with the shinai etc etc etc, you may find learning sword technique as opposed to just shinai fencing useful in understanding where kendo comes from.