Did a 2014 movie rip off Elfen Lied?

[The Millenium Walken]

So, I saw Lucy the other day... It's about a young woman named Lucy who escapes from confinement at a shady facility and just walks through hordes of armed men like a boss, killing them with her paranormal powers without breaking a sweat. Oh, and apparently bullets stop in mid-air when you shoot her.

It's obviously not a shot-for-shot rip-off, but I don't have to write this all down on a comparison chart, do I?

Do you think this was intentional?

[Zered Heizien]

no

[kenjitamura]

The Fullmetal Narcissist

So, I saw Lucy the other day... It's about a young woman named Lucy who escapes from confinement at a shady facility and just walks through hordes of armed men like a boss, killing them with her paranormal powers without breaking a sweat. Oh, and apparently bullets stop in mid-air when you shoot her.

It's obviously not a shot-for-shot rip-off, but I don't have to write this all down on a comparison chart, do I?

Do you think this was intentional?

It would only be a rip off if Lucy's paranormal powers took the form of long invisible arms that can cut through almost anything. Or if Lucy were an evolution of humans meant to destroy the rest of humanity with uncontrollable impulses to kill every human she sees.

[NinjaSai]

Matter manipulation and the super-spatial awareness to be able to see the entire world around you are totally different than Elfen Lied's invisible arms. They both did have the name Lucy though, but still.

[Flern]

Elfen Lied was the first thing I thought of when I saw the previews for this movie! Lucy is so different from Elfen Lied, yet so similar. I highly doubt that the movie is a rip off of the anime. I think the similarities are just coincidences.

[Pigeon Pal]

eh, i highly doubt it was a rip-off. both characters are named lucy, both of them destroy s**t -- that's about it, really. their powers are completely different.

[Noselfworthotep]

Does the main character in the movie get an annoying moefied split personality somewhere along the line?

Seriously, though, I'd chalk it up to coincidence. Especially since the description could apply to several movies from the early-to-mid 2000s, and the whole "bullets being stopped in midair" part was done years before Elfen lied came along.

[thesupremekaidbz]

I wouldn't say it's a ripoff but it was certainly inspired by Elfen Lied. Lots of Hollywood movies borrow elements from anime.

[Noselfworthotep]

thesupremekaidbz

I wouldn't say it's a ripoff but it was certainly inspired by Elfen Lied. Lots of Hollywood movies borrow elements from anime.

You mean like how The Matrix "borrowed elements" from Ghost In The Shell?
To be fair, anime has adopted some ideas from American media as well. Trigun was a fusion of retro sci-fi and American spaghetti westerns, and Afro Samurai was set in a world largely modeled after a mix between Wild West flicks and American hip-hop/soul music.

[DOROHEDOROBRO vIh]

Lucy is actually Limitless mixed with Jason Bourne and Akira.

[Azure Poison]

Completely different...

[Serpent Detergent]

I don't think it was a "rip-off" but some parts of the movie seem like it was influenced by the anime. So they most likely just got inspiration from it if anything.

[DutchT0a3t]

Nah, there's a few coincidences but nothing that really screams "ripoff" to me there. Now if it started out with the main girl naked tearing through all the people and had a scene with a dog getting abused, we might be on the same page.

Ever seen Black Swan? Now that's a ripoff of an anime movie; specifically, Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue. Same themes covered, same style of cinematography - it's pretty much a live-action adaptation of Perfect Blue with a ballerina instead of a pop star.

(And while Requiem for a Dream had the dignity to actually acquire the rights to copy a certain shot from Perfect Blue; Black Swan's totally unauthorized.)

[doitsundere]

• I actually wondered that myself when I first saw it, but nah, don't think so. Just think there are coincidences.

[amigobear v3]

lucy tried to be many things, but being based off of elfen lied isn't one of them.