See, Ben? She gets it.
And you know what, that's work the other way around too. MMZ seems like a good fit for the DMC style.
They're still quite different though, on the basis that their "formulas" and overall executions are different.
For example, MMZ was not really about combo building (though some did exist), because it focused more on speed and killing things efficiently. In DMC, and even more so, Bayonetta, the reason why everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is "cancellable" into anything else, is to make for a game where you could kill things in an elaborate fashion, and rank up the points. If Zero had access to HALF of what Dante or Bayo had at their disposal, in his own games/appearances? He'd be nigh-unstoppable. Dash Cancelling back in PSX MMX games was "bad" enough as it was, and showcased just how much the stock MMX/Z engine was not built for combo fluidity like that!
To do such a transfer as what you're implying, would also mean that MMZ engine would have to be changed to adequately accommodate things to make things "balanced". MMZ, as we know it currently, would not be capable of rendering such a thing. Or at least, not well, as I'd still think some intricacies that came about from working within a 3D space would be lost in the process.
Again, Viewtiful Joe possibly stands as a better example of how to do such a "stylish action" game in 2D. Or hell, Treasure, arguably the "parent" of stylish action games, could render something just as viable. Follow something along those lines, and we may be onto something...